Rendered Useless
by Iridescent Reflection
Summary: Alec Lightwood has always been a martyr for his Parabatai, and because of this, Magnus blames Jace for an incident during a mission - MAlec, minor language.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: **__I don't own the characters to this, as they belong to Cassandra Clare. Minor language just so I could qualify this for T. I might make another thing to this, I dunno yet… _

"I may as well be dead, Magnus," Alec solemnly stated to his warlock. He couldn't see the twinge of pain and remorse from the older male.. The Shadowhunter lifted his head carefully, as if doing such would worsen his situation. "I can't fight. I'll be deadweight from here on out, and you know it." Shadowhunters were no good as deadweight. Even in death they served, but Alec wasn't dead. How unfair was it that he couldn't continue to serve and protect in life now?

Without any makeup, or gel applied to his features, the warlock of eight hundred years looked calm, rather than his usual flaunted flamboyancy. Magnus swore from time to time that he could set small bushes in the park on fire just by looking at them with his dazzling smile, and from the buckets of glitter he rolled in. His unspeakably bright colors that he wore may have helped too, what with the lighting of bushes in flames.

"Don't say that, baby. You're so lucky you aren't dead," Magnus said, sighing heavily. Shadowhunters were the worst when they were stuck in a depressing state. Some of them, like his dear Alexander Lightwood, were hard to retrieve them from said stupor. He looked over the dark haired male, everything about him hinting exhaustion. "It could have been worse. You could have lost appendages. Really important ones." Not that he wouldn't still be beautiful if he happened to be missing a leg or two, but it could get a tad awkward, in Magnus' opinion, if his boyfriend of eighteen years were missing a leg, or a hand, or more. It was a good thing demons didn't usually aim for genitals when removing limbs, Magnus thought offhandedly. Alec wouldn't appreciate the humor right now, he had concluded.

Alec was silent as he considered what could possibly be worse than this.

Sure, there were plenty of things that could be worse. Sure, death was one of them. Right about now, as he looked at all of the things he could no longer do, he'd rather be dead. "I'm only human," he said. "I'll die eventually. Working in the line of Shadowhunting, death could be around any corner. Even if the demon's don't kill me, time and age will." And Magnus would live forever, and in time he'd forget about him and find another lover. Alec was only another face for the warlock, just another person he'd come to meet, and share memories with. Comparing Alec to the rest of the people Magnus had kissed and would kiss in the future was comparable to counting the stars in the sky.

Magnus looked at the worn out Shadowhunter who appeared to have given up before he'd tried or endured anything. The white hospital pajamas of the Institute didn't do much to help Alec looking like he was recovering. "For the most part, you're in one piece. You can still breathe, and you can move. It's not over yet. Not for probably another seventy years."

"What am I supposed to do for seventy years?" Alec snapped, barking at his blanket-covered lap. Rendered useless at the age of nineteen, with his whole life ahead of him, life suddenly felt a lot longer than it had before he and his siblings had taken the mission.

"You could choose to be with me," Magnus said quietly, approaching Alec almost cautiously. "I can take care of you. Your parents and your sister can take care of you. All you have to do is ask." Slender hands held the dark haired boy's face gently, thumbs brushing over the sides of the freshly changed bandages covering his eyes. "There are so many people who would give you a hand if you'd just ask."

Telling him that wouldn't guarantee anything. Every Shadowhunter Magnus had met in his time had been stubborn to the core. So stubborn, they would refuse help if they were dying on the floor at his feet. Magnus used to debate whether that was sheer stubborn stupidity, or determination to maintain pride that he couldn't fathom. In some cases it was both, such as a certain daring blonde that had caused this situation in the first place.

"I can't burden people like that," Alec insisted morosely, leaning into Magnus' warm, soft touch. "I can't bother you for everything."

The same conversation they'd go through every time Alec appeared on at his doorstep injured. With a patient sigh, Magnus told him yet again, "I'm your boyfriend. I want to help." Silly Alec and his thoughts on how he thought he was using Magnus just for healing.

Alec never listened to that, no matter how many times he repeated it. Or maybe he did, and just never took it seriously. Either way, half the time Magnus had to figure out for himself if the younger male was hurt or not, and the conversation would rear its familiar head. Alec said nothing as he sat in the truth of Magnus' words. There was nothing he could say, and almost no way he could refuse when Magnus was so willing to help.

"So?" the warlock asked, "will you let me and everyone help?" He could see practically see how Alec was torn between saying yes and insisting on fighting about it more. He leaned forward, lips brushing the others. He was trying to be tempting, and because he couldn't see Alec's eyes, he couldn't tell if it was working.

"I guess," Alec gave in, a small nod. Chances were he'd still try to do things on his own, but at least Magnus had his consent to help. That was all the consent he needed to use to baby him and be over protective. His Shadowhunter would tire of that, he was sure, but no matter. Magnus Bane was very good at dealing with fussy, short-tempered Shadowhunters with humor, sarcasm, and his blinding wit. Dear God, was he rubbing off of Jace?

No. No, he was pretty sure he was here first. Jace must have copied off of him with the whole comic relief role personality. Secretly. Magnus was convinced, or rather, in the process of convincing himself his way was more likely. He was brought from his pointless musings when Alec shifted in his hands and made a small noise in the back of his throat, akin to the sound a small animal would make when it was injured, much like Alec was, Magnus couldn't help but think.

"You'll still…love me, even if I get to be a pain?" Alec was still thinking of how much he'd burden everyone. On the bright side, he was accepting that he'd need help.

"Of course I'd still love you," Magnus said, his tone suggesting that Alec was being silly. "Nothing changes with just this." Except Alec would be heavily dependent on everyone.

"Even though I'm…b-blind?" he asked, tripping over the word, hesitant to say it. Saying it felt like accepting it. Magnus brushed a few stray hairs from his face, Alec's fingers noticeably twitching from how close the contact to his unseeing eyes had been. He was nervous about that area, perhaps because he'd experienced some of the worst pain in his life there, recently. Magnus didn't think it hurt there too much now, since he'd healed the open wounds, but there was no doubt Alec had been traumatized to an extent, not to mention Alec couldn't see what was going to happen when people were around him.

"Being blind now would have no effect on our relationship," Magnus informed him, taking a tone that would tell Alec he should know this, or expect better of the warlock. Maybe someone else, someone less important, he would have left, but he certainly had no future plans to leave this one. A disability would make things interesting, Magnus secretly thought. "I'm pretty sure there's nothing that could tear us apart. Well, you wanting to might, but, y'know, I'm kind of hoping you don't want to."

Alec let the corners of his mouth twitch up slightly, just for a fraction of a second. "I wouldn't want to, especially now. I need you, but I don't want to bother you, or trouble you, or-" Alec was cut off as Magnus stopped his sentence with a kiss, effectively silencing his doubts.

"I want to help you, okay? End of story, case closed, el fin," Magnus stated firmly when they pulled their mouths apart.

"Okay," the younger male consented. The warlock rewarded their truce with another kiss. Alec was noticeably tentative with this, his effort was similar to when they first started seeing each other. Maybe Alec was reverting to shy and hesitant again because he couldn't see. Maybe? No, most definitely. Alec pulled them apart with a soft popping sound when they heard a throat clearing on the other side of the infirmary.

"Alec goes blind and you're already trying to take advantage of him? Is this a new low for you, Magnus?" Jace asked sarcastically. A quick glance at Alec told Magnus that the boy had either found this funny in an embarrassing way, or was overall still embarrassed about people walking in on them and their moments.

"You're an ass. I am definitely not taking advantage of my dear Alexander."

"Flattery will you get no where, especially in trying to delude me from what I really saw." Jace smirked, though what Magnus really saw in his eyes was regret. Jace, always putting up a sarcastic, asshole-ish like front. "If you're done molesting him while he can't fight back, I'd like a…moment alone to talk to him."

"Why? Are you going to take advantage of him while I'm not there to protect him?" Magnus snorted, rolling his eyes.

"Are you sure it's not you that wants to take advantage of me while he's not there to protect you?" the blonde turned around, scoffing. The older of the two bickering stopped and gave him a look. Answering that look, Jace declared, "I'm so damn sexy and you know you want me." The addressed couldn't help but laugh at the comic relief Jace was providing, trying to hold the tension of the room at bay. Magnus gave the boy some credit for that.

"I'm so sure of that what you just said is not that case, that I'm going to walk out of here without a second glance at you." Magnus turned to his boyfriend first. "I'll come back later, okay?"

"All right. I'll be here, of course."

"I know. Love you, doll," Magnus said, kissing Alec's forehead. He strode out of the room, true to his word about not looking once at Jace. He heard a chair being moved, presumably Jace wanting to sit by Alec's bedside and talk. Magnus may have lingered by the doorway a little longer than he had to. Amazingly, the first thing he heard, instead of a smart remark, was Jace apologizing softly. Jace was an insensitive jerk sometimes, but as Magnus learned gradually, when Jace did something to injure his parabatai in battle, he'd soften up and actually apologize. The only two people the energetic blonde seemed to bow down for was his little red head, who had him whipped without even trying, and on the occasion, Alec, his brother at heart.

Maybe even Jace would help out with this. Maybe he was guilty enough to want to assist the problem he'd created. If only he wasn't so reckless, Magnus couldn't help but thinking this wouldn't have happened. Was he blaming the selfish, arrogant, fearless prick? Maybe. Maybe he was, or maybe he was blaming Alec for being so selfless and sacrificing himself to avoid the target being his friend. His young Shadowhunter tended to be a martyr sometimes. Check that, he was always trying to be a martyr. Magnus always had to worry when they went out on missions, knowing Alec would be more than happy to throw himself in front of an attack to protect someone, and he'd done just that today.

Magnus hoped Jace felt bad. No, he wanted him to feel horrible.

He wanted him to feel as bad as Alec did.

Someday, he hoped Jace would willingly return the favor for Alec.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: **__Don't own the characters O3o Cassandra Clare does_

So very rarely was it that Jace Wayland actually sorry for his reckless actions in battle, and as well as it was rare that he felt the need to apologize for them. His mistake today had brought both of these uncommon traits forward, effectively stunning Magnus. He stood outside the door to the infirmary, half listening to the conversation going on inside between the parabatai. Jace was apologizing repeatedly, half-heartedly inserting a joke now and again, trying to keep the mood as carefree as he always seemed to act. Magnus took note of how it wasn't working, especially for Jace, the one trying to comic relief himself out of the tension of the room. Shaking his head, the warlock set off for anyone to talk to. The entire outcome of the situation was settling down on him, even though he'd put on his brave front for Alec, reality was hitting him harder than he'd allowed himself to show.

Buried within his thoughts, Magnus failed to take notice of the dark haired female making a bee line for him, clothes spattered in blood, torn and muddy. She ran straight into him, grabbing the front of his shirt in her fists, literally jerking him from his contemplation state. "Isabelle," he acknowledge carefully, nodding his head to her. There was something about her that gave him the feeling that she was feeling frantic. It could have been the fact that she hadn't changed from her battle gear, or the matted hair she hadn't brushed yet. It could have even been the make up she hadn't redone, that tipped him off about her air of anxiety.

"Magnus! Can you fix him? Shit! You can bring his sight back, can't you?" she asked hurriedly, desperation filled her features.

"Hate to say so, darling, but I can't," Magnus told her, trying to uncurl her fists from his pricey designer shirt. He felt her mood drastically increase in fear, panic, or perhaps even disappointment.

"What? Why not? You're a warlock! You're magic! You can fix anything!" she accused, letting go of him with a shove, spinning around to kick the wall in frustration. Magnus was very glad that wasn't him she was kicking, or venting her mood on.

"I can fix what can be repaired, and Alec's sight _can't_ be repaired."

"How do you know?" she demanded, tears threatening to spill over. "You're his damn boyfriend! You have to try, for Angel's sake!"

Magnus bit the inside of his lower lip, sighing through his nose. Everyone thought he could fix anything with a flick of his wrist, or a snap of his fingers. He had to explain it yet again, and he was sure this wasn't the last time he'd be explaining this today.

"Look here, Izzy." He waited until she stopped abusing the walls of the hallway, her attention more or less focused back on him. "I can fix what can be fixed. I can fix objects because the pieces are there somewhere. I can heal people because I can speed up the process with what they have in their body." He paused, letting her take it in. "I can't, however, bring back the dead, because their life is no longer there. If he lost an arm or a leg, I can't bring those back because they're not part of him anymore. The life in them is technically gone. I can't bring back his sight because it isn't there anymore, you see? If something's gone, then it's gone. I can't bring back what isn't there anymore."

"Why can't you just-"

"It's not there anymore," he stopped her, holding his hand up. "His vision system, what allows him to see, is damaged. His eyes, you saw them, they were torn apart. I can repair the damage to the actual eye, but not to his sight."

Isabelle refused to accept this, gritting her teeth and scowling. "That's bull! If you can fix the state of his eyes, why doesn't that bring back his sight? And I was going to say why can't you just make new vision for him. "

"They. Were. Torn. Apart!" Magnus practically yelled, cursing the stubbornness of Shadowhunters. "You have a library! Read! Read what makes the eye see, and if it's broken why they can't be fixed! I can't create new pieces for his eyes, that would be putting foreign organs into him, and the chances that they wouldn't be accepted are there too. It's like a surgeon and transplanting."

Finally, the female Shadowhunter, seemed to let this go, giving the wall one last kick before storming off. Magnus could swear he heard her sniffing, but she seemed to be eyeing him instead of the wall to kick. He also resisted the urge to see if she had dented the wall with her boots. Better the Institute than him. Hopefully Maryse or Robert wouldn't take it out on him. Jace, it would seem, had taken in the fact that Magnus hadn't healed Alec's eyes because he couldn't.

"Hey," Jace said behind him, bringing his cocky, know-it-all expression up to mask what he was really feeling. "Alec wants you back in there, but just know, warlock, if he calls for help because you're taking advantage of him again, I'll be on you in a second." The double meaning behind those words? Alec wants him back in the room, but if he made him any more upset than he was, Jace would personally kick him out. Magnus scoffed, returning the false air of arrogance.

"As if I would upset him," he snorted, giving a dramatic roll of the eyes. "Don't you worry, little Nephilim. I'm his boyfriend, what could I do that would upset him?" His meaning; who do you think you're talking to? I'd kick your nice, tight ass just for trying to throw me out. Jace just shrugged, slipping out of the infirmary and going down the hall his half-sister had gone down, glancing at the scuff marks on the wall. He stopped.

"Dude?" He pointed to the wall with raised eyebrows, as if asking him if he did that.

"Isabelle," Magnus clarified, waving away his expression. Like Magnus would ruin his pair of perfectly good shoes taking his anger out on a wall.

"I thought I heard something," Jace mumbled, going back to shuffling down the corridor 'casually'. "I'm telling on her," Magnus heard as Jace got farther away. He forgot about the blonde as he walked into the sick room, Alec staring straight ahead, as if he were trying to see straight through the bandages.

"Have no fear, the Magnificent High Warlock of Brooklyn is here," he announced, flourishing a hand, though Alec wouldn't see it. He caught Alec's turn of the head in his direction. He didn't even crack a smile. "I mean, I'm back," Magnus said quieter, taking a seat in the chair Jace had left by the other boy's bedside. "Miss me?"

"You weren't gone that long," Alec responded, head lowered now that he knew where Magnus was. With him just sitting beside him, Alec didn't need to keep his head up to locate where he was standing.

"So you didn't miss me, is that it?" Magnus asked with a pout. All of these things he was doing, he was sure Alec could tell he was doing them. "Because you know, I missed you. I was out in that cold, lonely hallway for God knows how long, and I missed you."

"It was only ten minutes, not even," the Shadowhunter replied, the corner of his lips hinting a twitch. Great, Magnus had him on the verge of taking in humor. Take that, Jace. If anyone could get Alec to smile, Magnus knew it was him.

"Ten minutes is too long, I think I almost fainted from the lack of Alec. You know how I have to be near you in order to keep me running. It keeps me from drying out and becoming dust in the wind." He was avoiding directly mentioning death for a reason. It might depress the younger male again.

Alec couldn't help but offer a small smile, just a shadow of what Magnus really enjoyed getting out of him. He could settle for that, he supposed. At least he got a real smile out of him. "If you say so, Magnus," he said, "but I think you might be exaggerating on that."

"You think?"

"Just a bit."

They sat in silence for a moment, the smile having faded from Alec's lips, as well as from Magnus'. If Alec could still see, they wouldn't be having this problem of silence, or the pressure of what really hung over them. Alec must have been thinking what the rest of his life would be like now, not able to see. Magnus was thinking about what Alec might be thinking of, wishing he could help. It was always a mood-dampener when his magic couldn't fix something. He doubted the Book of White could have anything for this, or any of his other books. It could be worth a look, but maybe another time. He didn't want to get Alec's hopes up right now that there was a probably nonexistent possibility in his books.

"Was it worth it?" Magnus finally asked, running a hand through his dark hair, slouching in the chair a bit. Alec nodded his head before giving him a verbal answer.

"Like I told Jace, it was worth it because he's still alive. I regret that I can't see anymore, but I don't regret saving his ass again." Again, Magnus thought with a mental huff. Stupid Jace and his stupid idiocy. "I'd do the same thing for anyone if it saved a life." Alec the Martyr, noble and brave as always.

"What about your life? Doesn't yours matter too?" Magnus stared hard at Alec's blank face. His eyes made the most expression for him, but those were covered, and he had some doubt that Alec would be expressing much right now even if they weren't bandaged up.

"I guess," Alec shrugged slightly. "Shadowhunters do what they're supposed to do, saving lives at the cost of their own." Why couldn't Alec just be a…a chef, or something? Magnus thought. He wouldn't have to risk life and limb for other people then.

"Are all Shadowhunters masochistic?"

"Nah. Some of them, like Jace, are sadomasochistic… There's a difference."

"Yes, muffin-darling, I know there's a difference. He enjoys both the torture of himself and others. He's an asshat that likes to fool around until someone else gets hurt at his expense."

"He is kind of an asshat, isn't he?" Alec muttered, counting back all the other times Alec had jumped in front of something for his parabatia. Jace had the highest count in his book for how many times he'd been stupid and careless and needed jumping in front of for protection. The blonde was still alive because of all the sacrifices other people had done for him.

Another silence passed over them, the both of them contemplating the idiocy of the blonde 'hero', each in a different way. Magnus wouldn't admit right now that he was cursing every bone in his body, every golden piece of hair on the boy's head. Alec was thinking how much differently the scene could have played out back there, if he had or hadn't jumped in on time. He would never forgive himself if he hadn't done that, and he still would have done that if he'd known the end result.

"What will I do now, then?" Alec questioned, mostly to himself, breaking the silence. "I think the Clave already knows by now. I guess no more fighting for me, huh?" Fighting was his life, and now he needed a new one. Nothing could be as exciting as the job assigned to him at birth, but he'd have to find something to fill the void. Living with Magnus helped some, but he'd be bored during the day with nothing to do.

"We could go to my place when you're ready, or when your family thinks it's all right to move you, and I'll find some things to teach you brail so you can read brail books."

"The bump letters?" Alec inquired, remembering hearing about them before.

"It'll give you something to do for a while, and then at least you can read. I'm pretty sure most public places have signs with brail on them." Magnus recalled places like McDonalds that had bumps below the lettering on their signs for the bathroom. He liked dragging his nails across them just for the sound.

"Don't blind people usually have guide dogs?" the younger boy pointed out when he remembered a time Jace had run off to pet an old man's dog on a harness.

"You can use Chairman Meow, though he's a little small. I don't think he'd be a very good guide either. Wait. let's rethink that. What about Church?" Church was a bit bigger than Magnus' guinea pig-sized cat, and perhaps smarter.

"He's not a dog." Church wouldn't be a very nice guide animal. He bit Alec from time to time. "And I think he'd only be able to guide me around the Institute."

"I don't even think we need a guide dog. As your loyal, loving, beautiful, magnificent, intelligent, talented-"

"Magnus."

"As your boyfriend, I'll be your guide," Magnus told him, reaching a hand out to take the cold, loosely curled fist in Alec's lap.

"I can live with that," Alec admitted, "and you'll make sure I don't run into walls and chairs, right?" Magnus wondered how comical that might look in his apartment. If it was comical at all. "Right?" Alec repeated, very possibly reading the warlock's devious mind.

"Yeah, I won't let you crash into anything," Magnus assured, smiling and giving Alec's hand a squeeze. "I'll get you through this."


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N_ : It has been quite a while, huh guys? For the few who probably read this, that is. I've been busy, very busy with school. I've been picking up guitar (slowly but surely) and whatever else that's been distracting me since the last time I updated. I have a quote used in here, translation and all, _**from City of Bones; Chapter 19 - Abbadon, **_it's Jace's Latin quote, which took forever to find. I don't own that idea/sentence thing, just so we're making that clear! I can't guarantee updating often, but I had a three day weekend and thought, sure, I need to get at least the chapter I started weeks ago finished.

Don't own the characters, and the quote~

Jace closed his eyes as he listened from afar to Magnus explaining to Maryse Lightwood why her eldest, remaining son's sight could not be fixed. He supposed he'd already given this to Isabelle, considering Isabelle wasn't charging him like a bull seeing red and demanding information from the man. _His fault_, he'd been repeating to himself like a mantra. His brand new, less-than-cocky mantra. _Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa,_ he reminded himself from the last time Alec had come close to death because of him. Why did Alec have to be such a willing martyr? He didn't seem like the kind of person who wanted to die. At least not from where Jace was standing.

"And that's why I can't fix Alec's sight," he heard Magnus conclude, and then a sigh of either disappointment in himself, or weariness at having repeated his explanation. Jace knocked his head against the wall, sighing through his nose. Self-disappointment was right. He closed his eyes, wondering why he'd screwed up so much worse this time around.

"Thank you for trying, warl- Magnus," the mother Lightwood corrected herself, and Jace knew the very back of her mind was still adjusting her attitude towards Magnus being almost family at this point in their relationship. She corrected herself., "I'm sorry, Magnus. I wish there was something we could all do for him."

"Things'll work out," he assured the room, unknowingly Jace too. "Speaking of things working out!" he said, the sound of clapping his hands together, the few rings he had clinked together upon contact, "Alec says he wouldn't mind if he lived with me so I could help him out!" Jace opened an eye, making a face no one would be seeing. Force of habit, really. There was a pause, and the blonde half-son could very nearly feel Maryse's expression of shock, or disbelief. These vibes were feelings pretty sturdy, it must have been a combination of both.

"Live with you?" came a squeak. Hmm, maybe Jace was mistaken. That definitely was disbelief coloring the older female Lightwood's voice. Shock tended to sound more disapproving, while this, this sounding like the date for the end of the world had just been announced, was disbelief. Skepticism if he dared.

"Yeah, and then I can help him around and junk. Oh, and I promise not to do the old 'Helen Keller punishment' thing." Jace thought about that one. He got it on try number three. Leave it to Magus to come up with that joke. "I won't rearrange the furniture after he memorizes the layout of my place." Maryse must not have gotten it, so Magnus spelled it out for her. Silence followed, and a noise that hinted disgust, and maybe even a tint of anger.

"Was that a joke?" she asked, a snarl following that.

"Something I heard a while back. Why? Not good taste for the situation right now?" No. Freaking. Duh. _Nice try, Magnus, but not nice enough_, the eavesdropping blonde thought.

"Just a bit," Maryse mentioned, her voice clipped. The look on her face now, Jace debated, must be something between semi-annoyance and very possibly spite? With a grimace, he couldn't help but think of his half brother bumping into furniture and whatever else was in front of him, walking carefully, unsurely, with his hands outstretched in front of him, trying to find the obstacle before colliding violently and unexpectedly into it. It was just Alec's luck for that method not to work, and wind up covered in bruises and bumps before the week was out.

"Hmm, I suppose it is bad taste right now. Okay. Maybe later then."

Jace could hear footsteps nearing, he jumped away from the wall, just as Magnus walked through the door. He didn't look that surprised to find Jace there.

"Why, hello there, Nephilim," the warlock said, dropping a glitterless wink. He had a bit of eye liner and mascara on, making him appear quite bland, and almost normal looking. "Pleasant seeing you here. How long have you been standing there?" He appeared smug, already knowing the answer.

"Oh, Y'know, just dropped by. I couldn't help but hear something about you wanting to take Alec home to take advantage of him? What was that about?" The definition of innocent angel crossed Jace's face, and would have worked if no one knew better.

"Riightt," Magnus replied, corner of his lips moving upward, letting his mouth show false emotion, trying to direct the attention away from his eyes. Magnus was thinking further along the lines of this, somehow. Jace didn't know what, but it obviously had to do something with Alec.

More silence.

"You know that I know that this is my fault," Jace finally said, looking to the ground. "This is my own fault. All mine and only mine. I'm feeling greedy today, so I'm taking it all." His attempt at being funny? Maybe it was. It was the weakest he'd ever heard himself say. Usually he was a pretty hilarious person, even in the face of death. Now? Why not now? Because it wasn't his life that had been ruined, but his closest friend's life?

"Alec forgives you," Magnus muttered, sounding as if he didn't forgive Jace yet. Jace wasn't blaming him right now.

"So I heard, but you know, he always forgives me." And Jace didn't deserve it. When had he ever earned Alec's sacrifices and his forgiveness? If anything, he should be doing these things for Alec instead.

"I can't imagine why…" Magnus took on a cold look, gazing hard at Jace's pitiful stare at the ground. "Looking for what to sweep next? You seem pretty intent on that floor."

"I'm not in a cleaning mood, actually." He wasn't going to be in any kind of cleaning mood for a while. His insane cleaning urges were dulled right now, because cleaning would never be more important than his Parabatai. "I am sorry, though," he mumbled, using whatever strength he had in his numb body to lift his head up to meet the warlock's cat-eyes. All he saw was stubborn willingness to believe him, none of the hate he was expecting that the tone of voice had given off.

"Yeah, I've heard that a couple times. I'm choosing to use what I already know of you, dear simpleton, to put two and two together and accept you're telling the truth."

"Simpleton? Well, that may be, but I- Wait. What do you already know about me?" Eyes narrowed in a shot of playfulness that wasn't really there. Make light of the mood, when in doubt. Magnus was trying, he should be giving his half too, to avoid the conversation going into screaming fits, or shouting matches, anything that was negative.

Magnus scoffed, crossing his arms, drumming his right fingers on his bicep. His hip jutted out in a dramatic way, his foot tapped as if impatient. Magnus was really trying hard.

"What? Is it really supposed to be that obvious?"

"Yes, Jace, it is." If Jace was guessing right, then it was probably arrogance, blind idiocy he tended to possess once in a while (often enough), and sarcasm, that Magnus was talking about. Heavy on the blind idiocy, he was thinking.

"Well? Tell me!" The blonde hopped up and down, appearing eager to hear bad things about him that he already knew. "Tell meh! So I can correct the errors of mah ways!" Dropping to his knees was a nice affect, if he did say so his self.

Amused, maybe for real amused, Magnus grinned before rolling his eyes, sighing, and turning around, taking a smooth stride that was very feline-like. Very swishy and fluid. "Gee, you really wanna know what I already know about you?" He turned on his heels, pursing his lips in half a pout, half a mocking smile.

Furiously nodding, trying not to be outdone in acting -as Jace was a marvelous actor- Jace bowed down, hands outstretched in front of him. "Please!" he begged in an overly obnoxious worshiping voice. He made himself sound desperate, as if Magnus telling him would let him live happy for the rest of his days. "I am on my knees! No, I'm on the floor! My gorgeous face is touching the floor! Begging you to tell me your knowledge!"

"Well, when you put it like that…" Magnus trailed off, building 'suspense' for the two of them.

"Am I…err, interrupting something?" Isabelle asked, walking out of the kitchen with wide eyes. Had she been in there too? Jace realized slowly that she probably had been listening to the reason Magnus couldn't fix her brother's sight twice. Who did it hurt more? Her, or him? He'd have a mood-lightening contest with her if she would actually play along too.

Jace peeked above his arm from where his head was on the floor. "Yeah, actually. Magnus was just about to tell me the problems with me and what he already knows." He returned his head back to the begging position. "Like I said, I AM BEGGING YOU, O' GREAT WARLOCK! TO TELL ME ALL MY PROBLEMS!"

Isabelle laughed lightly, just as Jace had hoped. "By the Angel, ass-tard, you don't need Magnus to tell you what's wrong with you. You don't even need Clary to tell you! And we all know how oblivious Clary is."

"Watch it," Jace said from under his arms.

"Whatever. Anyways, I could tell you what's wrong with you, you know."

"Oh, I know. But I'd rather hear it from Sir Know-it-all than Madam Pompous." He heard her stamp her foot and nearly growl.

"I beg pardon?" she asked, putting a foot on his back, increasing weight so the boy below her couldn't stand up.

"Nothing," he said, using the small whimpering voice he knew she would like to hear from him. Isabelle was trying too, and he was glad she was playing the part of the annoyed sister. She was playing, wasn't she? Well, he wasn't afraid of her, not right now, anyway. This wasn't the kind of fight they'd get in where he was really needing to hide behind Alec.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Her foot was removed from the small of his back slowly, luring him into thinking he was in the clear. When she heard him snicker, she stamped her foot back down, hearing a crack and groan from Jace. "Twaaaattt."

"Could be," Magnus threw in, agreeing with the female Lightwood. "Well, your pleading doesn't really please me as much as I'd like. So, I've got better things to do than watch you beg where you belong."

"On the floor under Izzy's leg?"

"Precisely. Maybe you have some hope after all. Keep working on that."

"Hear that!" Jace shouted at Isabelle, arching his back to get her foot off of him. "I have hope! Magnus said I have hope!" Pause. "Hope for what?"

Isabelle removed herself from him and took a step back, debating on if it was worth it or not to kick him while he was literally down.

"I take it back," Magnus said immediately, moving backwards, shrugging nonchalantly, as if they were all really having a nice conversation. "I must be off. I am needed at the side of someone smarter than you, and quieter than you," he addressed them, snapping his fingers, topping off their act with a poof of glitter, smoke, and lights, forcing the Shadowhunters to close their eyes from the brightness.

When the smoke dissipated, and their eyes had readjusted to normal lighting, they looked at each other, to where Magnus had been standing, and then to the floor. A pile of glitter and dirt lay on the floor. Silence befell the two, and they were unsure how to keep on acting.

"I'm not cleaning that up," Isabelle said, edging into the kitchen once more, leaving Jace, with a rising sense to clean, to stare at the mess.

_A/N: Another attempt to be funny, kind of comic relief-ish? It's been a while O3o Anyways, I'm trying, and I'll see when I can get the next chapter up~_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: _Geeze, I had this started and never finished. I hope I'm keeping these guys moderately in character…

Alec turned his head when he heard steps nearing him. Who was it this time? Jace? Isabelle? His mother? Maybe it was Magnus again. His boyfriend had been stepping in a lot, checking up on him when he really didn't need it. Things felt so much louder when he couldn't see who or what it was. When the air was still, when no one was around, he felt like he could hear the silence. His ears rang when he was concentrating on nothing.

He was working on identifying people by their walking. Magnus was hard to place, and Jace, right now, was hard to place as well. He was sure there was a difference in the steps, but he didn't hear one right now. Isabelle would be wearing heels most of the time, so she shouldn't be that hard to hear. His mother? Another story right now for later.

"Aleeeccc," he heard singing, and knew it was Magnus.

"Hello, Magnus," he greeted, nodding in the direction he heard the moving footsteps and voice. He wondered what Magnus was wearing today. Was he wearing his make up? His eyeliner, or eye shadow? Was his hair up? Alec would never be able to see that again. Magnus was a beautiful person, especially, in Alec's opinion, when he didn't have all that fancy junk on. Magnus didn't seem to think so, but no convincing from Alec had let him understand that. "Err, how did it go?"

Magnus cleared his throat. "She didn't say no," he informed, leaving information out that she certainly didn't say yes. Actually, she didn't get to saying anything because his joke had distracted her. "I take that as yes, Y'know? When in doubt, the answer is usually yes, or maybe."

"I'm not sure it works that way…" His mother probably didn't think it was a good idea. He wondered where he got the idea that she'd be okay anyway?

"Never mind that. You can live in my nice, smaller than the Institute house, and it'll be great," Magnus assured, putting weight down on the bed as he sat down on the edge. He patted Alec's covered thigh, another reassurance, supposedly. Was it wrong to tell Alec right now that a bonus was that he didn't need a blindfold anymore if they wanted some foreplay? Maybe. No, wait. Most likely. He'd keep that to himself for the time being.

"Wait, wouldn't it be more logical to get to know my original home, and a place with less furniture first?"

"There may be less furniture, but there are loads more walls, Alec, dear." It was down to this now, was it? Furniture amount compared to wall or doorway amount?

"If you say so." Alec sat back against the pillows that reeked of bleach, sighing.

"Something on your mind?" Magnus asked him, feeling a warm hand run through his hair. Magnus was probably contemplating how he could cut it now that Alec probably shouldn't hold scissors so close to his face.

"Just that, life's going to be a whole lot longer now, I guess." Now he didn't have a choice but to stay away from the demons and creatures that could bring a Shadowhunter's untimely demise. Unless he learned how to fight while blind, but the that wouldn't be fair to the others around him because they would end up focusing too much on how he was doing than whatever they were fighting. He'd be the weak point of the group, which would endanger them.

"An extended life isn't necessarily a terrible thing, you know," Magnus said, his thumb brushing close to where Alec's mended, but sightless eyes were. Alec winced and jerked away a little. Contact was a scary thing when he couldn't see where it was coming from, even if it was Magnus. Magnus mumbled an apology and removed his hands entirely from Alec's person.

"Sorry, Magnus," Alec responded, though he was glad to have Magnus' hands off of him, for now, anyway. He just needed a little space until he came to terms that this was real and irreversible.

"Do you need to rest?"

Sighing and shrugging his shoulders, Alec nodded. He didn't want to be left with his angsting thoughts, but he really wasn't in the mood to deal with people he couldn't see. He heard Magnus getting up and telling him to rest well and that he'd see him later. He heard him trudge out of the room, a very un-Magnus walk.

It wasn't the first time Alec realized he had taken for granted the ability to shut his eyes and will the image of the world away from his sight. All he saw was darkness, or the images he reviewed in his memory. The only memory he could think of right now was the last thing he saw before his sight was lost.

_**AN/ All right, so I sincerely apologize at the ultimate shortness of this chapter And the time it took to come out, Christ O_o **_

_**I don't even know if I'm going to continue this story, honestly. I wrote it on a whim with no idea of where I was going with it, plus, I'm probably doing a horrible job of keeping them in any amount of character. **_

_**Sorry guys .**_


	5. Chapter 5

_AN/ I'm so glad people think I should continue. I really do appreciate the reviews telling me you guys like this. I hope I plan out my stories in the future ^^; I couldn't leave you guys hanging without knowing what happened. This chapter is basically all flashback, I guess. I hope it works ._

_Do not own, belongs to Cassandra Clare. Also, apologies for any mistakes, thanks for reading!_

His morning had started off the same way it had always started off. Someone waking him up very rudely, most usually Jace, was how it went down. Jace was the one who decided flipping him out of the bed was the best way to start the day today.

"Alec, up you get!" Jace hollered, tugging at the thin sheets around Alec's body. "I'm not getting any prettier by waiting for you to finish your beauty sleep!"

When Alec didn't respond with much more than a grumbled curse, Jace sighed as if he pitied Alec for what he had just incurred upon himself. Jace gripped the sheets in his fists, then jerked them away swiftly and hard. He winced as he heard a tearing sound as the cheap sheets gave under his mighty grip, reducing the effect of what he had intended.

Alec was thrown off the bed either way, landing with a solid thump and a "Damn you Jace!"

"It's practically noon, Lightwood. Hup-two! Hup-two! Wakey wakey!"

Alec shot up from his position on the ground, startled. "Noon? Really?" He was an early riser always. Even when he stayed out late with Magnus. He never slept until noon! That was for Mundanes, and sometimes Jace, when he acquired a hangover from a party or something ridiculous.

Jace snorted comically, like that was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. "What? Noon? No, it's only eight in the morning. No worries." He avoided a sluggish smack from his adopted older brother, obtaining the last laugh.

The older male dragged his hand across his face, groaning and standing up. Now he was sore and cranky. "Never do that again, Jace. I swear I'll put your underwear in Izzy's cooking or something if you do. Then you'll have to fish them out and no one will want to stand near you when you wear them because you'll reek."

The blonde went from the look of mock horror to a smirk. "I don't have to do it again. I've done it once, now I can cross that off the list and move on to the next method. It's better, I promise. Loads cooler than falling out of your bed like a bum." He didn't dodge the pillow that was chucked at him.

"Why did you wake me up like that?" Alec dared ask, wondering it would be reason enough to strangle his irritable but highly loveable parabatai.

"Because, dear older brother, we're gonna go demon hunting! It'll be great! Just you, me, and Izzy! Now come on! I've got to get her up still, and we both know she'll take a few hours to get ready." Jace made to leave the room.

"Wait," Alec stopped him. "Give me like, five minutes to pee. She'll never let me in there once you wake her up."

"Noted and granted," Jace responded, striding out to unleash the sister that was even less of a morning person than he was.

Alec stretched and twisted his body to let his joints and spine make cracking sounds. He had to hurry and use the bathroom or he wouldn't see it for another hour or so.

Once he relieved himself, Alec stepped out, only to be brushed aside roughly by his angry sister. He muttered a hello which was not returned while she slammed the door behind her and left Alec to face a red faced Jace.

"You have a bit of an imprint, right there," Alec pointed to the red hand mark across Jace's face. Jace just shrugged and rubbed it gently. Alec was willing to bet it still stung.

"Wanna eat out?" Jace asked, looking at the closed bathroom door. "We can meet her there. I'm starving, and my amazing powers don't work unless I've been well fed."

"Can I get dressed first?" Alec questioned, gesturing to the pajama pants and loose tee shirt he was wearing.

"Oh? You still need to do that? I thought you were dressed." The blonde snickered and watched the taller male walk away, pulling the shirt over his head as he did so.

"Hey! You've got a mark on the back of your neck. Looks like a hickey!" Jace called after him loudly, letting the whole Institute hear.

Half an hour later the two parabatai sat in their favorite spot in their favorite restaurant. The boys were already garbed in their fighting gear, weapons were hidden under their clothes. Isabelle had been told to bring the big things later, since she was last one arriving.

They sipped at their coffee in a content silence, which was one of the few times Jace was ever truly quiet. It was short lasting but it was nice. A few words were spoken between them as they waited for the last person of their three man party to join. They figured it'd be another half hour or so. Maybe more, so they were holding off on eating anything just yet.

The coffee count so far held Jace at two cups and Alec at three and a half.

"You really needed the caffeine, huh?" Jace asked while he waited for a refill on his cup.

"Gee, what do you think? I was woken up by _you_. I'll need at the very least four cups to feel normal."

Jace ignored the malice in his voice. "You think you can out-drink me? Please, I can hold my alcohol five times better than you. I'm pretty sure I can down more non-alcoholic drinks than you as well."

"But there's no drug limit in coffee. You can drink it all you like but it's not like you're going to get any more jittery with it," Alec tried reasoning. Jace just tutted and shook his head, telling him it didn't matter and he was out matched before he even walked into the restaurant. Alec hadn't even been aware they were competing.

They waited sipping coffee and once going to the bathroom until Isabelle arrived, looking a little grumpy but refreshed and ready to start the day. She told Jace to shove it when he started talking to her while she got some coffee in her. Her whip was already wrapped around her wrist, while Alec's bow and quiver were set under the table, along with three swords. The three Shadowhunters ordered food, chatted a while, then took off.

"So where are we going?" Isabelle asked later, tossing her black hair over her shoulder and attached her sword to her hip comfortably. She wished she had brought a thigh sheath to carry the dagger there instead of having it bump against her ankle in her boot.

Jace shrugged, giving a lazy "I dunno." The Lightwood siblings turned to him, glaring.

"What? You were the one who woke us up with these big plans. You don't even know where we're going?" Isabelle demanded, hands on her hips.

Alec groaned at the laziness of the blonde. "By the Angel, you do this all the time, Jace. Set us off on some plan to entertain us for the day, then have no idea how we're actually going to spend it." He could have spent time with Magnus, for Angel's sake!

"Hey, hey. We'll just prance around a forest or something until something jumps us. I'll even be the bait!"

"Sure, the forest. If we want faeries after us, then by all means, let's 'prance' around," the female Shadowhunter grumbled, but followed after the blonde anyway. Alec had no choice but to follow his younger siblings. As the elder of the group, he had to watch over them, no matter how dumb the idea was. And how ever much time it was wasting that he could be with a certain sparkly warlock.

"Is anyone aware that there really aren't forests here? Maybe like, the park. And those would be more like woods, right?" Alec brought up uncertainly.

Isabelle faced him and deadpanned. "Really? You have to be that critical to detail? There are trees involved, can we leave it at that?" Alec just shrugged and let her be annoyed.

Jace was the leader for their excursion to the park. Him being bait and all, he had proclaimed that he take the lead and make sure any creatures caught a whiff of him first.

"Hello! Monsters! Nice, tasty, defenseless children! Strolling right through your woody home!" Jace shouted when they walked through the trees further from the populated area of the park. "I'm delicious! I promise!"

After walking around and calling for nearly an hour, Alec and Isabelle sighed, looking towards the idiot who had started this.

"Well, I see nothing. This is dumb, and I'm starting to sweat," Isabelle announced. "I'm going home. Have fun looking for danger that doesn't exist right now," she told Jace before walking away.

Jace looked over to Alec with a sad expression. Alec just gave him a raised eyebrow.

"I feel no pity for you," he told him. "This really was dumb. And a waste of time."

"But….but Alec! You're supposed to stick with me! We're brothers! Parabatai! Friends 'till the end! You can't leave me to demon hunt by myself!" He threw his hands up in the air as if he were going to call the monsters for real this time.

"Jace, forget it. There's nothing here right now. Let's just come back another day, okay?" As the older male turned around to follow the trail his sister had left on, Jace grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Just a little further! Like, towards the wetter area of the woods, then we can go, okay?" Jace asked, wanting his parabatai to have some fun in his life that didn't involve unzipping a warlock's pants.

As much as he didn't want to, Alec caved for Jace. He sighed and told him to lead the way again. Jace fist pumped and nearly skipped off in the direction of where he believed the wetter areas were.

Sticks cracked under their feet as the area became obvious that it was less tended to. They were stepping in mud and soggy patches of grass. Isabelle would definitely not have wanted to come this way, even though she always seemed to be the cleanest out of the three when they finished fighting.

"Hey look! A swamp!" Jace announced, jogging over to the deepest amount of water they'd come across. His quick pace made mud fly up and hit Alec's pants. Alec scowled at the mess.

"Not a swamp," he groaned. "Can we go now?" He looked around once for caution. "Bye Jace," Alec announced, turning around to leave.

He wished he could have left. He found himself face to face with a large boar looking creature. Red fur stuck up along its body like spines. Alec stared dumbly at the animal that was easily twice his size, and probably five times his weight.

The beast snorted, its eyes glowed red as it looked down at the Shadowhunter. Alec was too busy staring at the four horns growing out of its head to move. He would have been dead if Jace hadn't jumped in excitedly with his named sword and took a swipe at the monster to give Alec some distance.

The pig-like creature backed up and squealed as Jace flashed his sword, taking false swipes at it and occasionally taking off some hair.

"Alec! Time to wake up! Have at it!" Jace called, dancing around and teasing the beast.

Alec grabbed his bow off his shoulder, stepping back while grabbing an arrow. He felt his boot sinking into the 'swamp' that Jace had found. While it wouldn't have usually mattered, he could feel the suction would slow him down, especially if he lost his boot. While he tried to pull himself out and nock the arrow, he failed to notice the second creature behind him.

It was the wailing that gave it away, though Alec turned around to face it too late.

Alec was snatched out of the muddy water by an iron grip, his boot lost. His dagger had been in that boot, he thought. He flailed helplessly as he watched his arrows fall out of the quiver and into the water. Easily retrievable if they weren't under attack, or if he could see the bottom of the shallow puddle.

"Jace!" he called, hand scrabbling for his sword. He could remove himself from the other demon's grasp, but he would need his parabatai's help to defeat it.

His bow became a hindrance as he tried to get free from the hands of what looked like a deformed bull. He would have called it a Minotaur if they were common to the area. Or if he hadn't slept through half the Greek mythology lesson with Hodge. He dropped the wooden weapon, letting it splash down along with the lost arrows. There was nothing to do about the empty quiver right now though.

The bull creature was crushing his torso, making breathing difficult. It was adamant on crushing his ribs in rather than tearing him apart with the meaty hands, apparently. When Alec tried unsheathing his sword, the other hand came to pin his arms to his sides. He was now clutched in both hands of the bull creature.

It gave him an angry roar, shaking him roughly.

"Jace!" Alec called again, trying to look over his shoulder when the shaking stopped to see what the blonde fighter was doing that took so long.

Form what he could see, his parabatai was busy dodging the boar's charges. The horns that stuck out from its head got close to Jace's limbs when he dodged. The horns could easily spear Jace in the gut if he didn't get serious sooner. Jace had placed several deep stabs in the body of the boar, though the injuries didn't seem to slow it down much.

"Hang on, Alec!" Jace told him when he caught Alec's desperate look. "I just gotta take him out!" Jace's sword cut through one of the horns, leaving the boar with three. Losing one of its horns only enraged it further. The captured Shadowhunter was forced to turn his attention back to the creature holding him when it squeezed him tighter.

Alec kicked out at it, reaching nothing as it held him far from its body. It removed its top hand so it could pound Alec against the wet ground. When his head hit the ground, he saw stars, and water filled his nose and mouth. He felt something sharp cut below his eye. He thought it might have been one of the arrows hidden in the water.

His body became limp as he focused on regaining his senses. The bull creature slammed him into the ground again, this time the arrow pierced his cheek. He could almost feel the tip of it penetrating through to the inside of his mouth. As he was brought up again, he thought fast and grabbed the arrow lodged in his right cheek, leaving a hole that he was nearly sure might show the inside of his mouth. He drove the point into the bull's hand hard, digging it in so the monster would let him go.

It worked, thankfully. He was dropped heavily into the water where he scrambled to finally unsheathe the sword. Better late than never, he supposed.

He spat out the blood gathering in his mouth, he breathed the sword's name and circled the angry bull demon. He wasn't like Jace, he wasn't going to charge in and dodge everything that came his way. With his luck, he'd just get recaptured and then become absolutely defenseless when he lost his sword. The demon would learn this time too, and would probably kill him straight away instead of just smashing him up.

_AN/ Yeah, it's the end of this chapter, guys. I'm admittedly out of ideas for how the battle goes. I'm sorry if it's not what anyone expected, or if it sounds bad so far. I haven't really written a fighting scene before._

_Thanks so much for the reviews guys. I'm glad you want me to continue. I'll probably write the end of this fight and how it lead up to where they are now, but we'll see what happens after that. _

_(Yeah. As dumb as it sounds, all of this was written on the spot. I have no idea how I'm finishing this to make him blind. Sorry…)_

_The area that they're in? Yeah, I don't even know. I'm sorry if it's totally, completely inaccurate. I'm just thinking of the wooded area behind a friend's house that's soggy and pond-like. The only parks that I know have woods around them that I've never bothered to try to walk through, so I dunno. I figure woods have this kind of thing in them…_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: I'm so thankful for the reviews you guys have sent me! Your encouragement is very kind. Once again, winging it. Yeah, you'd think I'd plan it out ahead of time, but why start now? In the middle of a thrown-together story? _

_Sorry for any disliked events. If you had something else in mind, sorry it didn't happen. Mostly I've gotten people saying hit in the face with the horns, so I guess I'll attempt it._

_Copyright to Cassandra Clare_

_**(?)**_

"Alec! You're back!" Jace called, not looking behind him as Alec stood to face the bull demon. Neither of them really needed to use the stele to heal right now, not that they had time to balance fighting two large beasts and drawing healing ruins on their skin.

"I should say you abandoned me, actually," Alec shot back, though he would never think Jace had left him to deal with the bull on his own. Alec was glad Isabelle wasn't present. If it had been her who had been grabbed, he didn't know what he would have done. Shot from afar and hoped he didn't hit her? Charge in screaming with his sword raised high? No, it was better that he had been grabbed and had escaped on his own.

"I would have helped you eventually. Good thing you didn't need it after all."

"I really could have used the help, thanks." He wished he could have said pay more attention, but then he'd just be a hypocrite. He held his tongue for that comment.

The fighting pairs were at a standstill, staring each other down, waiting for another move. Alec's heart was pounding in his chest, he was on edge. He watched the bull for any little movements, any tension that said it would pounce or charge or something sudden. Alec's job as a Shadowhunter was to protect himself and to defeat the opponent. His job as a parabatai and a friend was to protect Jace from getting hurt and getting reckless.

"Don't do anything stupid," Alec told Jace, flinching when he heard Jace move to attack the boar.

"Me? Do something stupid?" Jace replied, distracting Alec for a brief moment while he wondered if Jace was being sarcastic or not.

"Yes!" Alec dived out of the way of the charging bull when he noticed the sudden movement of the large mass grabbing for him.

No time for conversation! Not for Alec, anyway. Alec could hear his parabatai spitting out insults that the boar could obviously not understand. More or less, Jace was just talking to himself, sometimes he was talking to his opponent, though Alec could hardly understand why.

The bull creature given a groaning noise before it turned away from Alec and headed for Jace's turned back.

"Heads up!" Alec called out, following what had been his one-on-one enemy. He struck out with his sword, digging the shining blade deep into the flank of the thick-furred monster. It howled as its muscle was pierced, spinning around to lash out at him with its fists.

Alec narrowly ducked the swinging fists, removing his blade and stabbing once more, higher up this time.

By this time Jace had moved himself and the boar to another spot, a little farther from where he had been standing. Jace was busy teasing the boar, yelling out "Toro! Toro!" and "Ole!" when the boar charged and missed, Jace side stepping and laughing.

"Take him out already, Jace! I need help over here!" Alec demanded upon seeing his tomfoolery. "This is exactly why bad shit happens! You're screwing around!" Alec had to leap away from the bull as it redirected its full attention to the dark haired Shadowhunter.

"Yes, mother," Jace responded, though he didn't sound very committed to listening to Alec. He had dashed and jumped in a confusion pattern around the boar, using his endless amount of energy to keep the pig guessing. Jace had driven his sword into the middle of the beast's back, dying the red fur a darker color as nearly-black blood spilled out.

The pig was grunting and squealing like a true pig creature, desperately throwing itself at Jace in an enraged and pain-triggered desperation. Every time the pig neared Jace, Jace would lodge his blade in a different spot, or just let the tip drag across its flesh while it ran past him.

The blonde continued to play with the pig, lopping off the spikes made of fur on its back.

"It needed a hair cut. It's getting blood all clogged in it," Jace announced lazily. "Now me, I never get blood in my hair. My hair is golden. Angel-golden, and nothing can ever taint its beauty." He glanced over at Alec who was trying to hold his own at the limping bull beast.

"Can I leave it to bleed itself out?" Jace asked, watching the wounded creature slow in its running. "Fatally wounded and all, you know. I could just watch it die. It probably wouldn't even get in the way, see? It's too slow now."

Alec couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Leave the enemy alive? Spare it some pain and just end it, Jace," he barked. "Just help me out already! What is wrong with you today?"

Jace trotted next to the pig who still tried jabbing at him, though its time was more or less up by now. "You poor sad bastard," he cooed, stroking the blood-matted fur on its back. "I'm just trying to draw the fun out, Alec. It took forever finding these guys, we should take forever killing them." The blonde drove his sword through the pig's gut, letting it squeal once more before withdrawing his sword and ignoring it.

"It should be dead in a few minutes. Now, let's take care of your cow troubles." Jace turned his back to the dying monster, now facing a fresh challenge. "Why don't you go get your boot or something? I can handle him."

"No point now," Alec returned. "The sooner we take him down the sooner we can go home." His sock was soaked through with mud and water from the wet areas. He was thoroughly disgusted at the feeling of walking in a squishy, filthy sock. The feeling would be worse if he put his boot on now. He could wait until they were finished. The walk home would be gross, but bearable.

The bull seemed a little confused with two opponents now, like it couldn't decide to go for the weaker of the two and ignore the stronger, or just busy the stronger one and tire him out while the weaker one did minimal damage. It seemed to settle for Jace though, leaving Jace to dance out of the way of its meaty fists grabbing for him or swatting at him. Jace was a little more than a third of its height, but height and weight were nearly never advantageous enough for the blonde.

Alec had an easier time of plunging his blade into the rough skin, but he did have to keep his eyes out for a wide swing of the fists. Jace had taken the position of distracting it mostly. Alec was grateful, but he was still frustrated that Jace wouldn't get serious and just finish them off smoothly.

Jace could probably take the bull out by himself if he wasn't being so ridiculous right now. Jace was obviously a lot faster than it, smarter too, though Alec questioned his intelligence sometimes.

Alec had to keep up with the directions Jace was leading the bull to face. Currently he was making him spin. Jace liked making them go 360, making them look stupid and confused. It amused him, somehow. Going 360 was what made Alec see the flash of red though. He hadn't noticed at first, but the boar hadn't been where Jace had left it to bleed out. The red flash in the corner of his eye had been the boar giving a final charge with whatever energy and anger it had stored up.

And of course, stupid Jace was too busy teasing his second enemy of the night to notice the enemy he had left do die slowly.

Thinking quickly as only a Shadowhunter could, and as only Alec might have, Alec used his body to block the beeline of the left over enemy. Alec stood with his sword pointing outwards, where he knew it would catch the boar in the head. He knew it wouldn't be able to stop going as it was now. On its dying breath and final charge, Alec knew the boar wasn't about to halt in its tracks.

Alec shut his eyes tightly, waiting for the blow. There was no way he was getting out of this unscathed. The boar still had three horns left on its head. Those horns could land anywhere on his body. Jace would save him quickly enough if it were anywhere fatal, Alec knew.

He felt the jolt from the blade in his hands jerk and push back in his hands as it was impaled into the boar's thick skull, probably right between the eyes. The next thing he felt was the horns, the only thing that stopped him from determining where they had been lodged was the blinding pain in his head.

He and the boar screamed in unison, the boar was shaking its large head trying to dislodge the sword, snapping it out of Alec's weakened grip. Upon shaking its head, it lodged the three horns deeper into him.

"Alec!" he heard Jace cry out. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" His parabatai sounded devastated and like he finally realized the idiocy of his actions. Alec couldn't hear much else over his own screaming. The boar had stopped screeching as it died.

His body was hot with pain, and he felt his blood gushing down his face, down his neck and chest. His brain was screaming at him that he was in pain and the horns still stuck in him were the cause. He stumbled back, felt the thick horns being removed and leaving empty spaces where blood was leaving his body at an alarming rate. Jace could fix it with his stele! He could make it hurt less. He could stop the bleeding, Alec had to believe that.

He felt the ground shake a little, he heard a muffled grunt and assumed it was the bull who had been quickly felled.

Alec was holding his face, he had curled up on the ground in pain. His body jerked and trembled from the shock. He felt Jace's hands on him, on his hands, trying to pry them away. The injured Shadowhunter wanted to pull his hands away, but he needed the pressure on the pain. Jace would have to draw his ruins somewhere else.

"Why did you do that! I should have finished it off, just like you said!" Jace was shouting, panicking. He was fumbling and his hands were making mistakes with the stele. Alec could hardly feel the burn of the fresh ruins over the burning pain over his body.

"Stop the bleeding!" Alec cried out. "Call Izzy, anything!" Whatever made the pain stop, Jace owed that to him.

"I-I can't! It won't stop!" Jace was shaking too much to draw ruins fast enough. His ruins weren't enough to fix the massive amount of damage.

The pressure kept building up in his head, becoming a sharp, fiery pain. Alec felt like throwing up, and maybe he did. He was too out of it to feel much more than the pain in his body. He had tuned Jace out, his head pulsed and throbbed heavily, his heart beat against his ears. He welcomed the pain that threw him over the edge and caused him a loss of consciousness.

His last sight had been the wooded area, the boar charging. The last thing he heard had been Jace's shouts and his own heart beat, all swallowed up by the darkness that covered him like a blanket.

_**(?**_

Alec's consciousness returned to him slowly, like trying to find his way out of the blanket that had smothered him the first time. He could feel that he wasn't outside anymore, but in the stiff bed of the Institute. The pain had gone to a dull ache now, only sharpening when he squeezed his eyes shut tighter.

Bandages. He felt bandages restricting his eyelids and wondered if that had been the target of the boar's horns. But of course, he didn't know what else could have been in so much pain in his head area. Or facial area, rather.

He was tired. Exhausted, actually. Pain made him weary, even though he was probably almost fully physically healed. Alec let go of his consciousness and drifted off once more.

_**(?)**_

The room was quiet except for hushed voices, one strict and lashing, like a whip. The other was tired, sorrowful. Alec couldn't quite place the owners of them, but had to suspect Jace as the tired voice. At least, he thought so until he weakly called out for him.

Jace didn't answer, but someone else unexpected did.

"Oh, you're awake, Alec. How are you feeling, darling?" Magnus asked tiredly. Maybe Alec should have expected his boyfriend to be here. He was the all-powerful healer of Shadowhunters when they needed him in a pinch. Alec should have suspected that he would be called.

"I'm-" Alec had a coughing fit, his throat was dry. He heard a snap of Magnus' fingers and felt a solid item pressed against his hand.

"It's water, I can guide it to your lips. Just open up," the warlock commanded gently, letting Alec part his lips for the glass. His throat was much more clear than before after the water had slipped down his throat.

"Thanks," Alec said, voice stronger this time. "Who else is here?" he asked, wondering if that other voice was still here.

"Your mother. She left. How are you feeling?"

"Headache," Alec admitted. "And it's hard to do anything with these bandages over my eyes." He would rather see his boyfriend than blindly speak to him. "What happened? Do you know?"

He heard a strained sigh come from Magnus' lips. Like he didn't want to say anything but had to.

"Jace called, screaming into the phone. He said it was important, I almost hung up on him." Magnus gave a soft, humorless laugh. "He started ordering me around, telling me I needed to get there, pronto. Started screaming about you, that you were injured and no one else was around." He paused, taking a breath.

"He shouted a brief summary at me and said you were going to die if I didn't get there as soon as I could. I have to say, you have absolutely no idea how lucky you were that I was out in the area with a business client. I ran the entire way. I was practically right down the street from you.

"Well, after throwing myself into the general direction Jace said you'd entered from, I ran around to find you on the ground bleeding and Jace muttering to himself." Another small laugh. "I've never seen him look so desperate or worried. That was startling in itself. I didn't have time to look at you right then, but I managed to stop the bleeding while we took you back to the Institute.

"Jace stormed off as soon as we got in. That ass. I think he went to phone your mom or something. I healed you up here. Hours later, you're up."

Alec wondered how long he'd been out, but that was irrelevant. "Thanks for that," he said. "Where is Jace now?"

"Hell if I care," he heard Magnus mutter. "He told me the full story of what happened after he calmed down a little. I don't care where he is right now. "

"Oh." Alec could understand Magnus being mad at Jace for being such a cocky bitch and not doing what he had asked, leading to the situation now. "So am I all healed now?" he asked, touching the wrap around his eyes.

Magnus didn't answer at first, concerning Alec greatly.

"Yes and no," Magnus nearly whispered, like he was unwilling to let go of information.

"What isn't healed?" Alec asked. "You can heal anything, right?"

Alec heard the warlock take a few deep breaths, like he was preparing himself.

"Your eyes, Alec. Physically, appearance-wise, I mean. Those are fixed. You know your eyes were taken out when you threw yourself in front of Jace. But you need to know, I can't fix your sight." He heard the older male sniff, then let out the tiniest of sobs.

First he was in shock. Disbelief. Denial.

"My sight? I can't see then?" he asked slowly, like maybe he hadn't heard right.

"Yeah. You're blind, Alec," Magnus said, letting himself cry softly.

_**(?)**_

_A/N: All right, that sums up the last part of the thrown-together battle! I hope it's okay! I'm really sorry if it's terrible and made you laugh the entire time! Sorry if it made you bored, or sleepy too. Apologies for any mistakes! _


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: I guess I have my moments where I'm all, "Update, update!" and then after, "Meh. Too lazy to get on the computer to write." Oh, the chapter 6 had been written last night, but Fanfiction wasn't working for some reason or another, so I had to wait until morning to put it up. Let's see if it works now._

_Apologies for any mistakes made!_

**(?)**

Alec's mind was doubting it at first, even though he was hearing his boyfriend crying softly at his side. His boyfriend didn't cry over anything. He would cry only if the situation was hopeless, and it couldn't be hopeless. His boyfriend was a magical, all powerful warlock. Nothing should be hopeless.

"Have you tried everything?" Alec asked with a small voice. He saw nothing because his eyes were closed, but was that how he'd have to go around for everything now? "You can't, like, reconnect whatever makes sight work?"

"No, I did try everything. And Jace said the boar shook you, which extended the damage done within the eyes. Maybe if it had been a straight jab, maybe I could have saved some of your sight. It's gone though. All of it." Alec listened to Magnus cry.

Gone. His sight was totally gone. He'd never see again?

"I feel like such a failure," Magnus groaned, sounding a little muffled. Maybe he was speaking into his hands. "It's not often I can't fix something completely. Sometimes a client comes in with his lobbed off arm, I can reattach that. I've had someone who came in with acid in their eyes. I restored some of their vision, but not all of it. Still, they could see a little. And I can't even fix someone who matters to me."

Alec wanted to console him, he really did. If he could see, he would reach over and pat him and tell him it's all right. But he couldn't see, and some part of him blamed Magnus for not being able to fix this.

"Well," Alec took a deep breath. "I don't know what I'll do with the rest of my life. I might as well be dead, Magnus."

**(?)**

"Do I need to pack anything, Magnus?" Alec asked his magical boyfriend once he had felt his sour mood pass over a little. Magnus had returned to his side after Alec had spent his time thinking. He listened to him breathe steadily before moving enough and acting as if he had just woken up. Magnus had given him a soft greeting and said they could head over to his apartment soon if they wanted.

"Nah. I can just get you whatever you need with a snap of my fingers. Anything at all. Even your underwear," Magnus told him, keeping his tone of voice light and somewhat chipper.

"How do you know where my underwear is?" Alec inquired, wishing that raising his eyebrow would have the same effect without having eyes to narrow at Magnus.

"I may have peeked in your drawers just so I knew what I could transport over to my place. Can't poof something if I've never seen it before, right? I need to know it exists."

"So, we leave now?" Alec asked, cocking his head to the side. He wanted to get out of the Institute, away from the other Shadowhunters.

"If you're up to it," Magnus answered, putting a hand on his leg and squeezing reassuringly. "I can wait."

Alec shook his head. "No. I want to go. How are we doing this?" He attempted to get out of the bed, feeling his way to the edge of the stiff mattress and trying to push himself out. His feet touched the ground and he tried to stand.

He found himself wobbling a little when he got up, trying to balance without being able to see. While his hands quickly tried to find a surface to hold himself on, Magnus' hand wrapped around his wrist and held him tight.

"Easy now, babe. I'll guide you. I considered carrying you, but you might be a bit heavy to carry bridal style for that long. Muscle mass, not fat," Magnus chatted, pulling him gently and placing a hand on his back to steady him. Alec felt so unsure, like he might run into a wall any minute. His steps were shaky, slow placed and guessing. Walking was terrible when he couldn't see in the dark, but at least he could make out shapes. Now he was walking with no idea how far he was or what he could run into.

Magnus had him though. He was his eyes now. Magnus would make sure he wouldn't bump into anything bad.

"Just trust me, Alec. You're fighting this walking thing right now. I won't let you run into anything."

With a gentle hand on his back to guide him forward, and the light grip on his wrist that steered him, Alec did trust Magnus. He was still a bit scared and fairly paranoid that a wall would jump in front of him and knock him out, but Magnus would make sure nothing bad would happen.

Magnus could protect him from walls and table corners and such, but he couldn't protect him from the things he didn't see.

"Alec! Hey Alec! I-blargh!" Jace had run in shouting his name, only to run straight into him. Alec was knocked out of Magnus' grip and thrown to the floor, landing heavily on his backside.

His first reaction was shock, because he had no defense up since he couldn't visually prepare himself for anything. Jace plowing into him terrified him now. Running people had admittedly been the last thing on his mind.

"Jace! What the hell do you want? Watch where you're going!" Magnus yelled, and Alec heard them bickering while he sat on the floor, confused and shaking.

"I wanted to see Alec is all," Jace answered, shouting back at Magnus. "Is it a crime to see your injured half brother?"

"No, but it should be a crime to be the one who injured him!"

Alec listened to them yell, only able to hear where they were. He heard the sounds of a scuffle, grunting and growling like animals. They were physically fighting, he guessed. Alec patted the air around him, he ran his hands over the ground around his area. Empty. Maybe he was in the middle of the room.

He curled up when it became apparent that Magnus was busy fighting with Jace. He pressed his face into his knees while he caught his breath and calmed his nerves.

"I can't do this," he said to himself. The two males had quieted down when they suspected him of speaking. He could feel their eyes on him as they silently asked him what he had said.

"What was that, darling?" Magnus asked, getting closer, maybe to come pick him up. Alec felt the hand on his shoulder.

He jerked away from the touch. "No, I can't do this, Magnus! I can't take not seeing what's going to fly at me! I can't take being defenseless because I don't know what to defend myself from."

The room was quiet except for his heavy breathing. He heard quick, retreating footsteps and almost thought Magnus might have run out. When the hand returned to his shoulder, he figured out it was Jace who had fled the room.

"I'm sorry, Alec. I really wish I could give you even a fraction of your sight back. I didn't know Jace would come charging through the door though. I'll be more careful near doors for you from now on." Alec let himself be guided to rise, Magnus replaced his hands where they had been, and Alec was ushered through the door way.

"Where did Jace go?" Alec asked while he was being led down a hallway. He was trying to picture where they could be going. He dug into the memories that he held from childhood of the hallways of the Institute. He tried to guess how far the elevator was.

Magnus sighed. "He ran out. Feeling guilty as hell, I imagine."

"Oh. Sorry," Alec mumbled, feeling guilty for making his parabatai feel guilty.

"No, no. You shouldn't be sorry for anything. Jace should be sorry. He should wallow in guilt for a while," Magnus corrected him, rubbing his back comfortingly.

After walking down the hall with only their footsteps to listen to, Alec finally asked, "Are we near the elevator?"

He heard an amused noise from Magnus. "How did you guess?" the warlock asked, sounding surprised and quite happy. "Let me guess, you counted the steps it takes to get from the infirmary to the elevator, right?"

Alec shook his head. "I never tried counting those. I'm just trying to picture the hallway from memory and I kinda feel like we'd be near it right now. Which you said we were, so that's good."

"I was joking about the counting thing, but that's cool too. It should be just about the same thing with my place, so we don't have to worry too much."

He was led into the elevator, the atmosphere around him felt more enclosed, which was how he was able to tell he had stepped into a smaller space. He heard Magnus punching in buttons and felt the floor jolt, letting him know they were going down. He felt the movement under his feet, he stumbled a little from the weightless feeling the elevator always left him. Being sightless only increased that feeling that he'd fall. Magnus grabbed him though, once again promising that he'd look after him and would not let him fall.

Alec braced himself for the jolt that the elevator would give once they'd reached their destination, He felt the jump in the machine and didn't stumble this time. Magnus led him out and away, and after a few hallways more, they were outside.

Magnus hailed a taxi, when, in the past, they would walk together, hand in hand to his apartment. Now wasn't quite that safe with Alec's steps so hesitant.

The cab driver asked a few questions about the bandages wrapped around Alec's eyes, but Magnus just waved them away and promised to pay extra if he shut his face and hurried it up.

**(?)**

_A/M: And, I've run out of ideas now, more or less. If anyone was wondering what (?) this is, originally it said I don't know how to make a line, repeated, and all clumped together. I guess fanfic didn't like it and turned it into a question mark. Now I'm just sticking with them._

_I dunno when I'll update next. Could be this week, could be next week. Who knows. Ideas are welcomed._


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: So I noticed I put "A/M" last time at the bottom of my last chapter. It could mean "Author's Memo," yeah? I'm glad people are enjoying this, I really am. I really want to finish this now that I'm getting encouragement. We'll just see where we end up, yeah?_

_Thanks, mbrattoo, for telling me how to make lines on this. I'm glad someone read the "A/M." It's a little hard for me to understand, but I'll explore it eventually! Blind run once again! Here goes._

**(!)**

"Okay," Magnus held his shoulders and stood behind him. "You remember walking into this place many times, right?" He looked at Alec, who turned his head as if he were looking the place over. "Picture it, picture your way through this place. We're standing in the doorway."

His apartment was large and fancy, much larger and fancier than most apartments anywhere. Being the High Warlock had some amazing perks, even if he did have to deal with a bunch of whiney Downworlders every day.

Alec remembered his awe the first time he had stepped up to the name plate on the door that had read "Bane." He remembered the cat-eyed warlock looking at the group with displeasure, music blasting behind him, lights of different colors flashing, and many types of creatures partying like mad animals. Alec would probably never forget all the colors he had seen. He could replay the details inside of his head, he could imagine navigating himself through Magnus' home.

Imagining was one thing though. Just because he knew the layout didn't mean he understood the distances between items and rooms. Sure, he could picture himself walking through the large living room, avoiding the couch and the coffee table. He could see himself walking past that to move for the stairs where Magnus would take his arm and guide him up carefully and slowly, so he didn't miss a step and trip. Doing it, however, would take practice, and suffering through bruises.

Magnus' home was brightly colored. From bright furniture to bright walls, and of course, his canary yellow bed sheet. And his wardrobe, with all the glitter, and the colors he had never heard of.

Those things, he'd never see again, except in his memory. Memory had a tendency to fade though, and what if he forgot the colors? Angel forbid he forget the brightness of the bed sheets! Alec almost wanted to leave because of the colors he knew he was surrounded by, but unable to sight.

"Alec?" Magnus' voice broke through his thoughts. "Are you picturing the entryway and the layout of the house?"

Alec swallowed around the lump in his throat. "Yeah, I am." And much more than that. He was thinking ahead though. HE had to stop. When they got there, they got there.

"Okay, so walk with me. Slowly." Magnus escorted him from the entrance and through the living room, through the kitchen, near the bathroom, and then up the steps. The slowest had been getting up the steps. Alec was quite terrified of missing a step and falling. Like walking through the dark up steps, he had no idea how high to lift his foot, and if it would be greeted in time by another step before all of his weight settled onto the foot in the air.

Once they were up, Magnus led him to the bedroom and the upstairs bathroom. Alec took the time to try and calculate the distance between these things, and when he navigated by himself, he could use his hands to lean against walls.

"Can you lead me through a detailed tour of the bedroom?" Alec asked, even though he knew every step in their special room.

"Of course." Alec could practically hear the grin in his boyfriend's voice. The warlock took his hand in his, taking him through their room.

"The closet on the wall to the right. The bed against the opposite wall." Magnus let Alec run his free hand over the things they spoke of. "My vanity mirror. My make up sets. The curtains and the window. The table to the right of the window. The window with the ledge next to the wide window." And little other pieces of furniture placed for the convenience of feng shui or whatever Magnus had called it.

The thought occurred to Alec as Magnus talked about the dressers against one of the walls. How was he going to dress himself? Magnus would help him, he guessed that already. But he had to rely on him for every little thing? Sooner or later, Magnus had to get tired of picking things out for him and helping him to dress. Or maybe he would learn how to do that himself? Yeah, he could get dressed in the dark, which Isabelle accused him of doing anyway, but he couldn't see the things he was picking up. No, Magnus would be doing that. Magnus would be picking out what he wore, but how did he know if it was backwards? Or inside out? Some shirts had written in tags. Male shirts weren't as obvious with the front as female shirts were, what with the v-neck thing going on.

Pants, undergarments, sure, he could slip those on. He might stumble a bit since he couldn't see where he was shoving his legs when he put those on, but that might come with practice. Socks? That couldn't be very hard. Shoes, maybe, but where was he going to go?

"Are you sure you're not going to get bored with me here?" Alec asked Magnus, interrupting him in the middle of his speech on how to fold clothes the right way and avoid wrinkles.

"Pretty sure, darling. I'm going to help you until you're able to do as much as you can on your own. Or if you want help even after that. It's based off of a trust bond." Magnus paused. "Do you trust me? Enough for all of this?"

Did he trust his boyfriend who would now help him put everything on, and lead him around until he got the feel of the house Who would help him go to the bathroom and take showers or baths? Magnus would see everything he had, and would become everything he had.

"I trust you," Alec told him honestly. "But I'm nervous."

"About what? I won't rearrange the furniture or anything. At least not without telling you," Magnus replied.

Alec felt a little silly for saying so. Even if he hadn't gone blind, eventually Magnus would have seen his naked body. It had to come up sooner or later in their relationship.

"Um, you'd be helping me get dressed. With everything. And I'd need some help for a while on going to the bathroom and bathing." He waited to hear what Magnus thought of it. All he heard was a little sigh, but he couldn't place what emotion made it.

"Oh, Alec. You have nothing to worry about! Nothing at all! Although I wish the circumstances were different for why I'd be seeing your body naked, your body will be beautiful, and you have nothing to be self conscious about." He heard a small chuckle come from Magnus. "You're a beautiful person, even if you never let yourself feel that."

Alec felt the heat creep up on his cheeks. He was flattered, but he still doubted it.

"I have a lot of scars," he mumbled. And the ruins decorated his body, plus the traces of old ruins that had marked his body.

"I'm sure you do. It's all right though. The scars are part of you, and every part of you will be beautiful."

Alec truly did wish it were a bright situation that Magnus would see his body fully for the first time. And Alec wished he could see Maguns' body.

"Can we go downstairs now? I want to try exploring for myself," Alec asked, planning on slowly moving his hands on surfaces to understand what they were and what he had to pass in order to walk around. He wanted to try the trick he had done in the Institute halls on this place.

"Of course," Magnus responded, taking him to the stairs. "First step."

Alec lowered one foot slowly, he panicked a little when he didn't find it right away and almost thought he was stepping off too far, but Magnus would have said so, so the step had to be there somewhere.

He found it, and he lowered himself down the stairs slowly, carefully. Magnus taking the patience to lead him down each step at his own pace. His boyfriend wasn't usually a patient guy. He got snippy and irritated when he got bored and wanted to do something better. But here he was, standing and waiting, letting Alec take all the time he needed to feel safe.

When they reached the bottom, Magnus asked Alec if he wanted to be taken back to the entrance and start from there. Alec agreed and Magnus let him feel his way around. He said he would sit and watch. Once in a while Magnus would warn him if he was about to run into a wall, or furniture, or Chairman Meow, who had decided to show himself.

So far, Alec felt the map in his memory was working. He tread cautiously, picturing every step closer to an object. Alec managed to make his way from the entrance to the living room by sliding his hand along the wall. Magnus applauded and tried to make him follow the sound of his voice to locate the sofa.

Alec was nervous, because the living room was spacious, and he could walk in the wrong direction, but Magnus told him to trust his hearing as he spoke to him. Magnus chatted about how normal things would fall into place once Alec found ways to get himself around the place to be as independent as possible.

The warm voice rich with amusement and pride, and a little hidden pity was followed, and Alec bumped into the back of the sofa. He traced the back of the couch to find the front, and upon tracing the cushions, he found Magnus' lap. He pulled his hand away when he realized he had touched Magnus' thigh, and Magnus just laughed. He grabbed Alec before he could pull away, pulling him down onto the couch, into his lap.

"You're doing so well," he told Alec, laughing softly in his ear. Alec felt his warm breath, he felt the hands holding him steady in his lap while Alec fidgeted a little.

"Am I?" he asked, surprised.

"You are," Magnus complimented, kissing the shell of his ear. It sent shivers up his spine, and Magnus did it again.

"Are you proud of me?" Alec asked, leaning into Magnus' touch so Magnus practically cradled him. The warm embrace of Magnus was something he'd never forget. He wouldn't forget the first time he sat in Magnus' lap and looked up into his yellow-green, feline-like eyes. Alec rested his head against Magnus' neck, feeling the warmth and hearing his breath change a little from the pressure his head added.

"Very." Magnus pressed a kiss to the side of his head. Alec felt the way his lips gave a little suction when they met the surface of his head. The soft popping sound when Magnus pulled away. His hearing was sharp in general, but now it was what he would be mainly relying on. His hearing and touch senses would rise, maybe.

His stomach growled, and he didn't need sensitive hearing to hear it. He laughed from the moment it had ruined.

"You haven't eaten in a while," Magnus commented. "Which reminds me. The fridge, if you want food, um, well, let's figure out the brail thing later, but I guess you could just smell something to confirm the contents, or ask me. But I could order out, if you wanted. Anything you want. I'll even do the train-entering-the-tunnel for you."

"Chinese food, I guess. And the what?"

"You know, 'open up the tunnel for the train' thing that mothers use. Or sometimes they say plane. Whichever works best for you," Magnus said. "What do you want to get? Your usual?"

Alec nodded. Not like he could check a menu to see if he wanted anything different. He wasn't in the mood to change what he ordered anyway. "Okay." He felt Magnus set him to the couch cushion while he heard him get up.

"Be right back," Magnus promised, ruffling Alec's hair on his way to the phone.

"I love you," Alec called after him.

"I love you too, dear," he heard returned, and he smiled. Magnus had to love him a lot if he was willing to put up with all of this, and whatever else they would face in the future.

**(?)**

_A/N: Malec beats Jary, in my opinion. I have this whole image that the Malec community and the Jary community on fan fiction have this sort of, competing thing with who has more fics. It's probably not true, but it's a nice image. _

_So, I'm a little out of ideas. I'd appreciate any suggestions and apologize for any mistakes made in this fan fiction. _

_Oh, and Magnus' apartment, I have no clue what it looks like. Maybe the book mentioned it, but it's been a while since I last read the first or second book. I'm sorry if I got anything wrong, but all I did was google Magnus Bane apartment and got a few sites of what people thought it looked like. I based it off of one of those links. _


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: I'm excited to keep trying to write because of you guys. Seriously, even one review thrills me because I know that someone's reading and enjoying it. Drop some ideas by, guys. I'll take anything!_

_I don't own anything except the mistakes. Cassandra Clare owns the characters._

**(!)**

Magnus took the scissors and held them up to the bandages on Alec's face. Alec had given him permission to take the sharp objects so close to his face. He didn't flinch when they were near, he trusted Magnus with them.

Carefully, Magnus lifted a piece of the white bandage from Alec's face, he slipped one blade of the scissors under it and snipped slowly. Alec may not be able to see, but he could at least have the relief of having the wrap off.

Under the white cloth Alec's skin was flawless, thanks to the magic repair it had received. Alec had his eyes shut, and it looked as if all he had to do was open his eyes and everything would be better. If only, Magnus thought.

"Can I open my eyes?" Alec asked Magnus tentatively, knowing that he still wouldn't be able to see anything anyways, but still hesitant to accept that fact. He needed more time to come to terms with this. Magnus had yet to see all of the stages of grief accepted from the blind Shadowhunter.

"Sure. Your eyes will look like nothing touched them. It should be fine," Magnus told him, crumpling the used bandages and poofing them into oblivion. Or the garbage can. Where ever he sent it, it was out of sight and out of mind.

He watched the Shadowhunter slowly reveal the dark blue eyes he had fallen in love with. They were unfocused, but they scanned around like they were really seeing. He watched the impassive face of his young boyfriend fall a little, like he had been holding his breath to see if any sight at all had returned.

"Your eyes are fine," Magnus said, watching the blue orbs flicker to his direction, but they searched blindly for his face. "With some practice, I bet you could make it look like you're making eye contact with people when they speak."

Alec seemed to like that idea, but it also seemed to depress him. He had never been one for eye contact, especially when he felt embarrassed, he would look from the floor to the ceiling and maybe to his hands.

They were quiet for a moment while Alec's eyes flicked everywhere. Sometimes when he blinked, his eyes would stay shut, his head would turn in directions anyway.

"Do you picture the room better when your eyes are closed?" Magnus inquired, brushing a piece of hair that had fallen in Alec's face.

Alec nodded. "Yeah, muscle memory thing, I guess. Something like that. I want to try to see things in my mind with my eyes open. Can we practice?"

"Sure."

And so Alec would try to keep his eyes open while Magnus asked him where he thought something was, and Alec would think about it and point. Magnus would tell him when he shut his eyes, and Alec would flick them open again, Alec shut his eyes less and less, and his idea of where things were was fairly accurate. If Magnus asked him where the television was, Alec would point to the wall, a few feet off. Magnus was impressed, to say the least.

"You're getting good, Alec," Magnus commented. It didn't take Alec very long to just leave his eyes open to imagine things. "Practice though, practice is always good."

"Yeah." But he wouldn't have to be practicing at all if Jace hadn't been stupid, Magnus thought, watching Alec, who seemed so much more fragile now that he wasn't always on his guard.

Alec fidgeted a little in their spot on the sofa, Magnus looked at him biting his lower lip.

"Something wrong?" he asked, smiling when the blue eyes looked directly at his eyes.

"Um…" The younger male was reluctant to speak. He looked embarrassed but like he was steeling his nerves.

"Yes?" Magnus encouraged him to continue.

"I have to, um, go to the bathroom," Alec said quietly, turning his head away. He fidgeted uncomfortable a little more.

"Relax, Alec. If you keep on squirming you'll fall off the couch. I'll take you, come on." He took Alec's hand in his and pulled him up from the couch. He heard Alec inhale sadly, like he was choking back a sob. His eyes showed he was miserable, the way the scrunched in and filled with tears. He would chew his lower lip when he was upset, and Alec was indeed doing so.

"Shh," Magnus soothed, "it's all right. You'll get through this. You'll get used to this and it'll be easy for you to do these things on your own in no time." He watched the tears spill over and Alec used his free hand to wipe them away quickly.

"I don't want to get used to this. I don't want to have to do this at all. I'm sorry I have to ask you for everything now," Alec sniffed, continuously repeating that he was sorry while Magnus held his hand and brought him to the back bathroom.

"It's okay, Alec. I promise, it's okay. Everything will be all right." He knew Alec wasn't used to having to rely on anyone for everything. He usually refused to accept help on things in general. Magnus thought that maybe his parents taught him to do that, or he learned on his own while they were busy doing Shadowhunter work.

Alec just shook his head and sniffled quietly.

"We're here. I have a general idea how to do this, would you be okay with it?" Magnus asked him gently, opening the door and letting Alec go in first. Alec stood in front of the toilet, turning his head.

"Um, whatever gets us in and out of here fastest. You only really have to help me, um, aim." The last word came out so quiet, Magnus almost didn't hear it, but because he knew what the sentence was basically asking, he understood the word as if Alec had spoken it at normal volume.

"Okay, that's easy enough. You can hold yourself and I can hold your hands, is that okay?"

Alec's face flushed crimson, but he nodded and his hands went to unzip his zipper. Magnus gave him a little respect and turned his head while Alec pulled himself out and held himself in his own hands. His hands trembled when Magnus put his own hands on his, and Alec seemed terrified to relieve himself.

"I'm not looking, it's okay," Magnus coaxed, his head turned to the side.

"But you said you were aiming," Alec said, confused and a little frustrated.

"I looked long enough to do that, but you can do the rest yourself," Magnus told him, waiting for Alec to start.

It took a little bit, but Alec finally let himself go, shaking and trying to keep his breath steady the entire time. When he was done, he let Magnus know and zipped himself back up. Magnus let him have a little of his dignity to flush the toilet himself, even though it took a little bit of feeling around. Magnus helped Alec wash his hands and then led him back to the living room to sit.

Alec wouldn't speak to him after, at least not until Magnus asked him if he was okay.

"I guess," Alec replied, though he didn't sound like he thought so. "I mean, I'm just extremely humiliated and feel helpless and stupid because I can't do anything now," he muttered bitterly.

Magnus stroked his soft hair to try to calm him down a little. Alec used to like when his hair was stroked after a rough day of fighting.

"You're not stupid, and you won't be helpless forever. The way I see it, and the way I know you'd see it, it's just another reason to get really good at everything as soon as you can," Magnus informed him, watching as Alec leaned into his hand.

The sightless Shadowhunter stayed quiet, but he was slightly calmer and a little less angrier than he had been before.

"Is there anything you want to do?" Magnus asked him, since there hadn't been anything his boyfriend had wanted to do yesterday but sleep. After they had eaten and chatted a little, Alec had wanted to go to sleep in their room. Magnus didn't argue, even though it was early, in his opinion. He could understand that the Shadowhunter was tired though, and he had gone to bed with him. Alec didn't even ask to change out of the clothes he had been wearing.

Morning come, it had been hard to get him out of bed and dressed.

Alec was mentally unable to get out of bed until Magnus coaxed him up and promised breakfast. Dressing him had been a bit of a chore because Alec was so unwilling to comply and relax while he dressed him. His body had been stiff and unwilling to participate in slipped through the holes in clothes.

Alec thought about it for a bit before asking unsurely, "Can we visit the Institute?"

Magnus really didn't want to go near Jace right now, but he kept that to himself and agreed, calling for a taxi and calling Isabelle ahead of time to announce their coming. Magnus didn't tell Alec, but he had sent her a text telling her to keep Jace away from him. The warlock was feeling snappy at the blonde for making Alec feel so upset. He didn't know if he could hold his tongue around Jace.

The Downworlder walked his Shadowhunter boyfriend to the entrance of the Institute, greeted by the younger sister and led to the elevator.

Isabelle was speaking very calmly to Alec, like she was trying not to set him off. She didn't speak much to Magnus, maybe because she was still mad that he couldn't fix his sight, but she got in a few words just to let Alec hear she wasn't ignoring him completely.

"I think you're going to do very well, Alec," Isabelle told her brother honestly, Magnus watched the awe flicker across her face when she saw her older brother nearly make eye contact with her. "Did Magnus help you out a lot?"

"Yeah, he did. He's been great so far," Alec responded, gripping tightly to the hand that was linked with his boyfriend's.

"That's good," Isabelle replied, looking at Magnus with a mixture of gratitude and stubborn forgiveness. "He's good for you."

Alec just nodded and listened to his sister talk about their parents and Jace.

"Where is Jace, anyway?" Alec questioned when he heard that Jace had been training all day. "Is he still there?"

"Probably. I abandoned asking him to eat after noon today." Isabelle did not add, to Magnus' slight annoyance, that he was probably beating himself up over what had happened to Alec.

"Can you take me to him?" Alec asked, much to Magnus' amazement. Or not. Maybe he should have expected Alec to forgive Jace about the whole blind thing due to incredible amounts of stupidity on the blonde's part. Or maybe Alec didn't think Jace was that much at fault. Alec the martyr, Magnus scoffed. If only Jace had been the martyr here instead.

Isabelle didn't answer at first. She just looked to Magnus, and Magnus shrugged.

"Sure." She took Alec's other hand, Magnus let him go so his sister could lead him instead.

"Let me know when you want to leave. I'll go chat with your parents or something," Magnus called after him, and Alec agreed, still being tugged by Isabelle.

Maybe Isabelle would come talk to him once she had brought Alec to Jace, if she didn't stay to talk to him with Jace, anyways.

**(!)**

Alec let his sister direct him to the training room, while he tried to picture the path in his mind. As they grew closer to the room in his mind, he heard a constant thumping, like someone was beating an object with something. Alec assumed Jace was practicing with wooden swords against the dummies or something again.

"Here he is," he heard his sister say, and she brought him through the door. He heard the noise stop as they entered. "Alec came to say hi, Jace."

"Oh. Hi, Alec," Jace greeted breathlessly.

"Hi, Jace," Alec returned.

The three stood in silence a moment, only Jace's heavy panting filling the room.

"I'm going to go talk to Magnus," Isabelle excused herself from the room. She dropped Alec's hand and he heard her walk out. Alec was left in the room with his parabatai.

"So, you're training," Alec said awkwardly, wishing he could do the same. Wishing he could spar with the blonde Shadowhunter as they used to.

"That I am. I've been doing it all day," Jace said stiffly. Alec tried to follow his voice, but when he stopped speaking, Alec stopped walking.

"What about Clary? Have you talked to her lately?" Alec asked, trying to get Jace to speak more so he could try and find him.

"Nah. Like I said, I've been training all day, no time for that. I'm trying to perfect my already perfect skills."

Once again, Alec stopped as Jace stopped. He thought he was getting closer, but he didn't have anyone to tell him he was going in the right direction or not. He didn't want Jace to know what he was up to, unless the other male already got it.

"Are you practicing with a wooden sword?" Alec questioned, wondering how the training room was set up. It changed depending on what they were practicing, and if Jace only had the dummies out, then they'd be near him. Alec had no idea if he was about to walk into anything or not.

"Yep. Sword training. Maryse told me not to break them like last time, so she made me use the wooden sword."

His voice was definitely getting closer, and Alec decided to try walking without Jace's voice to guide him. He held his hand out slightly, trying to find anything that he would run into. He felt warm contact against his hand, and he relaxed when he realized it was Jace's hand greeting his.

"How did you do that?" Jace asked softly, letting Alec know he had reached his target.

"I listened. I've been doing a lot of it lately," Alec told him, smiling a little. He lifted his head to try and make eye contact with Jace, though he wouldn't know he did it unless Jace told him he was.

Jace cleared his throat. "I see you took your bandages off. Looks like new."

"Magnus always does a good job," Alec said simply.

"I'm sorry," he heard Jace say quietly, sounding remorseful. "I'm really sorry, Alec."

Alec was quiet, feeling that Jace really was sorry.

"It's okay," he started, only to be interrupted by Jace.

"No, it's not okay. I must be the dumbest parabatai ever to do this to you! I should have listened, I shouldn't have been teasing-"

Alec cut him off this time.

"It's not really okay that I'm blind now, okay? But I'll learn to live with it. But it's okay that it happened and that you're sorry now. It's okay that I'm still alive and that you've learned your lesson." He paused. "You did learn it, right?"

"Yes, I did. For sure," Jace said firmly.

"Good." Alec shook the hand around his. "Now, can I ask something from you?"

"Yeah, anything, man. I owe you a lot."

Alec sucked in his next breath, not sure if Jace would really comply.

"Can you get me a wooden sword so I can see if I'd still be able to fight some day?"

**(!)**

_A/N: I seriously considered just keep on going, make this the longest chapter I have so far. But then what kind of writer would I be if I didn't leave you guys guessing?_

_If you noticed, I had the beginning through Magnus' point of view, kind of. Then I switched back to Alec. Hope I didn't confuse anyone._

_So I guess I have the idea for the next chapter, even if it winds up being shorter or something. Whatever happens, happens, I guess._

_Mistakes are apologized for if they're there. Sorry for any typos and junk. _

_Thanks for reading, guys! There's a chance I might update again today, it's still relatively early, considering what time I go to sleep, anyway._


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: I feel kinda bad for leading you guys on and almost-promising another chapter in one day. If I have any ideas of what I'm doing after this chapter, maybe I'll make it up to you guys._

_Sorry for any mistakes in this. Clare owns her characters._

**(X)**

Alec waited while Jace seemed to be thinking this over. He wanted Jace to say he could try and fight, he wanted Jace to have even a shred of hope that maybe Alec could fight again.

"I dunno, Alec. I mean, it'd be like swinging at a piñata for you, wouldn't it?" Jace asked unsurely, sounding nervous and uncomfortable.

"Um, a little bit, I guess, but not if you keep talking and making noise. I can try to find you that way. I just want to see if it works," Alec said. "I want to know if the rest of my life is going to consist of me sitting on the couch all day doing nothing, or if I have even a little shot at fighting again."

"Well," Alec heard Jace move away, and he almost thought he was leaving so he didn't have to answer. "I guess you can. I'll go easy on you."

"Thanks," the blinded Shadowhunter said, relieved. Magnus wouldn't let him do this if he were here, and Isabelle would surely protest. Jace was his only shot at getting to try this. He heard Jace walking away, muttered to himself about how he didn't think it was very sporting to hit a blind person.

"Here." Jace returned with a second wooden blade and pressed it into Alec's hand. "I'll just keep talking and making sounds, okay? And I won't hit you very hard."

Alec held the wooden piece in his hands. "What does the training room look like right now?" he asked. "Tell me everything so I don't have to worry about running into things."

"Oh. Well, I'll just move the practice dummies out of the way and it'll basically be empty except for the built in equipment on the other side. As long as you don't start running around, like, stay in a circle-ish area, then you don't have to worry. I can move us into the middle so you won't be near any walls, too."

"Okay." Alec held out his other hand for Jace to take and bring him to the middle. Alec could see it in his head. One half had balancing poles, or things built into the wall for practice, a small obstacle course. The side they were on was empty, and Jace said they were in the middle of the emptiness.

"All right? Are you sure you want to do this?" Jace asked once more, sounding like he'd really rather not be doing this.

"Yeah. Be as noisy as possible."

**(XxX)**

Magnus was sitting in the kitchen when he heard someone enter. He turned around in his chair at the table to see Isabelle walk in.

"'lo there," he said, lifting a hand in greeting.

"Hey there," she returned, sitting down next to him. "So, he looks okay. Is he okay?"

Magnus shrugged his shoulders, propping his elbow on the table and leaning against his hand.

"I guess so. He's not very happy, but he's… Well, he's adjusting," he answered honestly, inspecting his nails on the other hand. He blew imaginary dirt off of them. He needed to go in for a manicure soon.

"Yeah? He looks like he's adjusting pretty fast. You're a good teacher," she told him, looking down at her hands in her lap.

"I think I am, too. Maybe I should apply for a job of teaching the blind," Magnus suggested jokingly.

Isabelle did not laugh. Magnus stopped expecting people to laugh when he cracked a joke these days.

"How's Jace holding up? Like I care," Magnus said after Isabelle's silence continued.

She shrugged this time, hair falling over her shoulder from where it had been resting. Magnus reached a hand over and tucked it back over.

"Beating himself up currently," she informed the warlock. Magnus wished that information was more satisfying to him. "Like I said earlier, he's been in the training room all day, won't eat."

"He deserves it," Magnus stated. "Alec didn't deserve this."

The young female Shadowhunter just nodded, hair falling back over her shoulder again. They ignored it this time.

"I left him alone with Jace. If only Alec could see the look on Jace's face when Jace looks at what he did. Alec would be sorry he can't see because of what Jace did." She laughed a little, though she wasn't happy. "That's just how Alec is. Putting family and friends first."

"He's very sweet like that," Magnus agreed.

"Sometimes I'm really proud he's like that, and then something stupid like this happens and then I'm really mad at him for being like that. It's a love-hate relationship with his personality."

Magnus just agreed again.

"Are you mad at Jace like I am?" he asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked him in the eyes. Her eyes were different than Alec's. Not blue.

"I'm not mad at Jace," she told him, much to his disbelief. "I'm disappointed."

The warlock nodded slowly, understanding the feeling. Maybe he had always expected someone to get hurt because of the cocky blonde's actions, so he wasn't surprised. He was just surprised it had been Alec, so he was more than upset than disappointed.

"I am, however, mad at myself," Isabelle sighed. "I should have stuck with them. Alec wouldn't have had to fight by himself. I could have helped him and this could have been avoided." She shook her head as her eyes watered with tears. "I'm so damn mad at myself!"

"I think," Magnus began, "that there were a lot of ways this could have been avoided. Think about it," he said when the younger Lightwood looked at him in slight confusion. "If Jace hadn't suggested to go demon hunting, if you guys hadn't agreed, if you had chosen a different place, a different time. Anything could have changed the outcome, really. If Alec had left with you when you left, maybe Jace would be the one speared instead."

"Don't say that," Isabelle said. "Not that last part."

"It's true," Magnus insisted quietly. "Alec wouldn't be blind, and Jace would probably be alive anyway."

"He's still family," she responded. "I'd never wish for someone else to get hurt. I'd never wish anyone to get hurt, but it's what happens in our line of business."

Magnus scoffed, rolling his eyes. If he had a nickel for every time he had heard that from Alec.

"Well, miss. I believe you people all need a new type of business."

**(X)**

"Over here!" Jace shouted as he dove to the side of Alec, who remained more or less stationary. He tapped Alec's shoulder with the tip of the wooden sword. "You just lost your arm."

Alec didn't give up, turning and swiping out with the sword, nearly catching Jace's side. Alec listened to the sounds of the other Shadowhunter's shoes hitting the ground. He followed them and tried to imagine where he went. Jace was unpredictable when he wanted to be, but he wasn't trying for that here.

Jace was moving to Alec's front, his sword going up to tap his throat. Alec could feel their closeness based from instinct, he struck out with the wooden sword, catching Jace in the ribs.

"Ow!" Jace hissed, backing off. "I think that's going to bruise."

Alec was quite proud of himself for landing a total of three hits on Jace so far. The ratio of hits that Jace had gotten on him was sky high above his measly three, but it was a good start.

Alec cocked his head in the direction he heard Jace panting from, knowing that the blonde was breathing loudly and a little obnoxiously on purpose. Jace could hold his breath if he were really that tired, in order to prevent being heard. Alec took a few steps in his direction, hearing Jace change directions and launch himself from the side. Alec couldn't block it, but he could counterattack.

As the dull blade tapped his hip, Alec swung the sword out low, hearing Jace curse when he hit something bony.

"You'd make me a cripple if you'd hit my knee any harder. Chill out on the swings," Jace said, though he sounded impressed, excited even.

"You need to be hit around sometimes. Izzy doesn't do it enough," Alec replied, feeling himself grinning hard.

"What don't I do enough? For Angel's sake! What are you doing?" Alec heard Isabelle shriek from the doorway.

Alec heard Jace stop in his tracks next to him. He took the opportunity to smack him with the sword.

"Sparring," Alec told her, lifting his head in her direction once he heard Jace move out of his reach.

Isabelle spluttered indignantly. She sounded like she was out of words for them.

"What the hell? Jace, why did you agree? And Alec, why did you ask?" she demanded, her heels made sharp clicking sounds as she neared them. Alec instinctively backed up. He heard Jace do the same.

"I agreed because he asked," Jace whined. "I owed him!"

"Is that so?" She sounded closer to Jace. "Then Alec, why did you ask him?"

Alec sighed. "Because," he started, "I wanted to see if I'd ever be able to fight again. If I can hear them, maybe I can still fight."

Isabelle didn't say anything, didn't snap at him for thinking it was a dumb idea. She even seemed to consider the idea possible.

"But not all demons are noisy. Some of them might even use you as a weak link if we brought you with us to fight," his sister replied. "Is it working?"

Alec nodded but let Jace vocally explain.

"Yeah, kind of. I mean, a little bit," Jace started excitedly. "His reflexes are a little slower than usual, but I bet if we practiced with him a lot then we could bring him for little missions and stuff."

"Yeah?" Isabelle asked. "But what makes you think they'd let him continue fighting? Shadowhunters with crippling injuries aren't usually used unless of an emergency and there's a shortage of fighters or something."

"We'd be his back up and all, we could look out for him and-"

"Why do you think it'd even be a good idea for you to go near him in another battle?" a new voice interrupted Jace. Alec knew the voice belonged to a very cross Magnus. Magnus' serious voice dripped with challenge.

"Magnus," Alec said, a little breathless. "I might be able to fight again if I can hear them."

He heard Magnus make a funny clicking noise with his tongue. "That's what I hear," was his answer.

"I want to!" Alec insisted. "Even if it's only a little fraction of the life I had, I want it."

**(?)**

_A/N: I'm not so sure I can keep that promise of making it up to you guys. At least not today. I'm not too sure what to do next. I have a little bit of an idea, but it's not a very strong idea yet. It's a little short due to idea shortage. _


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: It's been a while since I last updated. Out of ideas, you see. Still am. I just wanted to get in at least one more chapter before some changes go on in my personal life. I dunno what'll happen to the fic when those changes happen, but I'm trying to get to a conclusion here, without sounding rushed. This may end somewhere and wind up with a sequel or something, I dunno. _

**(XxX)**

Magnus and Alec stared each other down, even if Alec technically couldn't see Magnus' eyes gazing hard at him, and he was looking a few feet to the right of where Magnus actually was. Alec held a determined look on his face, eyes trained straight ahead. Magnus held his own expression of exasperation and impatience. He didn't need this silly idea to fill Alec's head. Stupid Jace and him giving Alec false hope.

"You can't do this," the warlock told the Shadowhunter firmly, leaving no room for negotiation.

"But Magnus! I want to!" Alec insisted, appearing as though he were speaking to the wall. Jace stood behind him and turned him a little to face Magnus and not the wall next to him. Alec made a small embarrassed noise when he realized why Jace had turned him.

The warlock was having no arguments. "Look, you can't even speak to me directly without having someone putting you there." He felt guilty for telling Alec what he could and couldn't do, for using his weakness against him for reasoning, but it had to be done. Dangerous was dangerous.

"With practice, I could-" Alec started, he was interrupted when Magnus cut him off.

"I don't care what practice will do for you!" Magnus exploded, nearly shouting. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Isabelle slink out of the room. He watched Jace tiptoe away from Alec's side and out the door with Isabelle. They were alone soon enough. "Your job was dangerous to begin with, but you had your sight to help you avoid danger. You don't have that now. You have nothing but your hearing to rely on, and let's be honest, you and I both know that isn't going to get you very far."

"Jace and Isabelle will help me," Alec tried again, trying to win this. He didn't have much to use to aid his case. "Jace! Tell him!"

"Jace left," Magnus informed him in a matter of fact tone. "See, you couldn't see or hear him leave. You can't go back to fighting because enemies will do that to you. Get behind you, or even in front of you, and you won't see them, or hear them. And you'll be dead."

Magnus was breathing hard now, nostrils flaring as he inhaled through his nose. Why couldn't Alec just put the sword down and accept that his life as a Shadowhunter was over?

Alec was breathing equally hard as Magnus, breathing through his mouth. He could hear the sound of air rushing in and out of Magnus' nose from where he stood.

"Face it, Alec. You'll be a hindrance on them if you joined them in battle. They'd focus all of their attention on keeping you safe, making them unsafe. If it was Jace that was blind, and not you, would you let him go back to fighting?"

The Shadowhunter remained silent as he thought about it. Jace could hold his own in anything, he firmly believed. If he were blind, could he still do it? Well, he'd certainly try, and neither Isabelle or he could stop it if Jace set his mind to it.

"I- I would let him try," Alec answered slowly, waiting to be cut off. When he wasn't, he continued. "I'd give him a chance on something easy, I'd keep my eyes on him. If it didn't work out, then, I'd have to figure out how to restrain him." He heard Magnus make a sarcastic noise.

"You'd really put a blind man into a fight? You'd let your brother risk his life to try?"

"We risk our lives every day," Alec shot back. Magnus knew this, chastised him every time he visited him with a new cut or bruise in the past.

The warlock gave a humorless laugh, short and loud. "Yeah, but not like that. Not charging in blind."

There were no still-fighting, blind Shadowhunters that Alec knew of, true. There were crippled Shadowhunters, deaf ones, too. But not blind. Alec never truly appreciated his sight until it was gone. He hadn't realized how much he used it and relied on it in his every day life.

"Why can't I try? Just once?" Alec asked, wanting one shot at it. Even if he wasn't allowed to try ever again, he wanted one try.

Magnus sighed through his nose, Alec could hear him approach him slowly.

"You realize you're asking your siblings to risk their life to protect yours, just so you can stand there in a fight?" the weary warlock said once he stood in front of Alec. He lifted a hand to brush a strand of hair that had fallen in his boyfriend's eyes. He watched the blind Shadowhunter's eyebrows furrow, watched him think and mouth a few words to himself.

"But Jace said it would be okay," Alec said, "he said it was a good idea."

"Darling," Magnus heaved a lengthy sigh. "Jace says stupid things, we both know this. He feels guilty and will do anything to make that guilt go away. If it makes you happy, you know he'd do it. That still doesn't make it right."

"Why won't you let me try to go back to my old life?" Alec asked desperately. "This is the only thing I know how to do. This is what I've been trained for, what I've grown up to."

"Your old life involved seeing," Magnus snapped. "It doesn't matter if you've been trained for this. The point is that all you would end up doing is standing there in the middle of some field or forest trying to hear your way through a fight. Jace and Isabelle would do all the work bringing it down and protecting themselves, and you. Face it, you'll be a sitting duck. A target. You'll get in the way."

Despite how cruel it sounded, Magnus had to make a point that would convince Alec he couldn't do this. Screw Jace and his stupid, half-baked ideas.

The young Shadowhunter had tears pooling in his eyes. They threatened to spill over and cascade down his flushed cheeks, but he held them in check. Even if Magnus had seen him cry, or scream, or get angry, Alec didn't want him to know that he had convinced him that he would get in the way. He didn't want Magnus to know that he was crying because he was frustrated, or scared. Magnus would just brush away his tears like he always did, then he would throw more reasons at him. He didn't want to hear the reasons he already knew.

Magnus reached down to pull the wooden sword out of Alec's grip. His knuckled had turned white from gripping the handle so hard during their argument. Alec let go of it as Magnus tugged at it. He threw it behind him, just like he was throwing Alec's silly, crazy idea behind him.

"I thought you loved me," Alec said, sniffing a little.

"Oh, don't play that card, sweetheart. It's been used before, plenty of times." Magnus shook his head, putting his hand on Alec's shoulder. "I do love you, but that card doesn't work on me. Sorry."

Alec mentally sighed. It worked when his sister used it on him. He didn't know why it wouldn't work on Magnus.

"Do you want to go home?" Magnus asked, not seeing much of a reason to remain in the Institute when it had this effect on Alec.

Alec shook his head vigorously, though once would have done it.

"I wanna go talk to Izzy for a little while. Can I do that?" he asked, looking up, almost making eye contact with Magnus.

"Yeah, that's fine. Come on, let's go find her." He took the Shadowhunter's cold hand in his, the one that had been gripping the wooden sword like a lifeline. He wondered if it was cold because of circulation cut off or something.

The warlock guided the ex-warrior out of the training room that he had practically grown up in. He wondered where the female Shadowhunter had disappeared to. Magnus gave a guess to the kitchen, seeing as the girl enjoyed being in there, despite not being able to cook. And the fact that they had previously been chatting in there.

Magnus considered himself lucky when he found her sitting at the table again, head in her hands, sighing to herself. She perked up and forced a smile on her face when she looked at Magnus leading Alec in.

"Come to say goodbye? Are you leaving?" she asked, her voice containing a false cheery note.

"No, not yet, doll. Your brother would like to chat with you," Magnus explained. He brought Alec to a chair next to his sister, helping him sit down and not miss the chair. Alec was timid to sit down, like he expected to fall through the air and hit the floor. Magnus just pushed at his thigh until he sat down.

"Okay," Magnus clapped his hands together, looking at the two black haired Shadowhunters sitting side by side. "Can you tell me where I might find our loveable blonde dumbass?" he asked, giving Isabelle a pleasant smile.

She raised a delicate eyebrow.

"What ever for?" she asked carefully, examining the wide smile on the warlock's face.

Magnus waved his hand, like he was swatting away any bad ideas the female might be imagining.

"Nothing big. Just a little chat," he promised, dropping her a wink.

"Well," she said, "he stopped in here to grab some junk food, so I would assume he's made off to his room to mope and gorge himself on chips."

Magnus beamed at her. "Excellent. I'll be back in a bit." He strode out of the room and wondered where the hell Jace's room was. He never had to go there. He just went to Alec's room. He wondered if Jace's room was near Alec's since they were parabatai.

Liking his luck, he tried for it, peeking into closed doors on the way, just in case he happened to find it before he got to Alec's room. Mostly empty rooms for guests, not that he ever saw many guests around here. Mostly just the children who grew up here, which was a grand total of three rooms used. Not including Maryse and Robert's room. He didn't know where that was, and how often it was used, but in his mind it might as well be a guest room too.

He found the blonde's room by the thumping noises coming from down the hall. He listened at the door for a moment, wondering what in the world the thumping could be, assuming something dirty.

While barging in and catching him in the act would be amusing, he wasn't here to be funny.

Clearing his throat loudly and obnoxiously, he rapped his knuckles on the door and shouted, "Pull your pants up, I'm coming in!"

He heard something fall from the other side of the door, his mind running to what it could be before turning the knob and entering. He saw Jace picking himself up off the floor, a dark red mark on his forehead above his right eye.

"Okay, so I guess you aren't doing what I thought you were doing," Magnus admitted shamelessly.

Jace looked confused before getting the picture.

"Ah, no. I wasn't doing that. I only do that at night, under the covers," he said proudly. He rubbed his head where the mark was, wincing.

"So, what were you doing, exactly?" the older male asked curiously, guesses flying through his head.

Jace looked a little embarrassed, his mouth thinned out to a straight line.

"You might laugh if I tell you," he announced seriously. "It's kind of crazy too. I don't know if you can handle it."

Rolling his eyes dramatically, Magnus put a hand on his heart, looking astonished.

"Oh! I don't know if I want to know now! I don't think my heart could possibly handle anything shocking and crazy!" He gave a snort and lowered his hand., deadpanning. "I'm sure I'll live. I'm my own doctor, so if I have cardiac arrest in the process of your answer, I'll be fine. Trust me."

"I was banging my head against the wall," Jace confessed like it was some dirty secret that only Magnus could hear.

While the idea amused Magnus, he didn't quite understand the benefits of thumping one's head against a solid surface.

"And, why?" Magnus' wrist rolled as he gestured for Jace to explain.

"Well, you guys kind of kicked me out of the training room," Jace said, "so I came in here to keep my mind busy."

"We didn't kick you out, but I guess it's good that you got out anyway. I still don't understand why losing brain cells against the wall keeps your mind busy."

"Sort of like punishing myself," Jace informed him. "It's different than cutting, because I could heal that with the stele, easy. Plus, Maryse would have a fit if I got blood on the carpet. Not to mention Izzy would be mad if I did any of that." Jace shifted under Magnus' hard gaze.

"That wall did nothing to deserve repeated banging against," Magnus sighed. "And hitting your head isn't too great of an idea. Especially if you knock a hole in the wall."

"I feel so guilty. I've harmed Alec, and now the wall," Jace deadpanned. "Who cares about the damn wall anyway?"

"Your mother does, I'm sure," the older male said dryly. "I didn't come here to discuss the walls with you," Magnus said. "You're distracting me with your idiocy. Give me a moment to collect my thoughts."

Jace was quiet while Magnus took a moment to think about what he was going to say. He kind of expected more talks from the magical Downworlder.

"Okay," he began. "I get it, you're guilty, you want to redeem yourself for Alec. You want to make it up to him. Encouraging him to do dangerous things while blind though, is something you shouldn't be doing."

"Actually, he asked me," Jace threw in, stopping himself from going on at the withering glare from his parabatai's boyfriend.

"I don't care who came up with the idea. You letting him try though, giving him this idea that he can try and stand by you in fights again, is a no. A very big no. I don't know if you, or him, or Isabelle realize how dangerous it would be to give him a weapon and let him stand there in the middle of some battlefield."

The blonde looked sheepish. "It was going to be a small battle. Like, one demon. A little one."

"Doesn't matter. I don't care what it is. Try to talk him out of fighting or something. He thinks I'm being cruel when I try to restrict his choices. I'm just trying to help him and keep him safe."

"Yeah, okay," Jace agreed. He had the same goal as Magnus, he supposed.

"Talk to Maryse and Robert about this too, I guess. They should be encouraging him to settle down," the warlock added.

"Can do."

"Where are they, anyway?"

Jace shrugged. "Back in Idris, I guess. They're always busy. Doesn't matter if we brought the Institute down in flames because Izzy burns something, they'd show up, tell us how to fix it, then go back to work. It's how we grew up."

"Not that I'm one who can compare old parenting tales and growing up with them, but, I kind of figured at least Maryse would stick around to see her kid a little longer. Help him cope or something, Y'know?"

"I guess she figured because he's with you that he's coping?" Jace guessed. "Are we done here?"

"For now," Magnus agreed. "Just, stop banging your head on things. You're short of enough brain cells. Trust me."

Jace mock saluted him. "Sure. Want some chips?" he asked, feeling the tension melt to nonexistent. He had left them on his bed before he had gone to hitting his head.

Magnus declined and excused himself, shutting the door behind him and listening for a moment to hear any thumping against the walls.

When he heard none, he strolled down the hall, taking his time to return to the kitchen and to the Lightwood siblings. He wondered how they were fairing.

He imagined Alec would want to go home now, since all they seemed to do was talk and argue when they came here. There wasn't much to do but fight and chat, he supposed.

How many talks had he had with Jace so far? 2 or 3? And how many more would he have with him? It seemed if anything came out of this, it was that Jace was shaping up a little and actually listening to advice.

A bit of guilt did wonders for his personality, Magnus believed. It was just too bad that the guilt had to come from a grievous mistake.

**(OoO)**

_A/N : Yeah, so, I'm thinking a few more chapters or so before I can close this and hopefully, some how lead it to a sequel where Alec can get his sight back. I have a sketchy idea at how he could get it back, it's just a matter of introducing it. But first, I need to figure out a way to close this. We'll see if/when any ideas come for more chapters later. _

_I apologize for any and all mistakes made in this chapter, and the story. We aren't done yet, and things are going to look up for Alec in the sequel, whenever that gets made. I welcome any and all ideas! _


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: We're gonna try to keep it under fifteen chapters to wrap it up. I think two more? Depends on whatever springs onto the screen when I type it up. I can't say when a sequel would appear, but I have this vague idea going on that just might work. _

**(XxX)**

Magnus had returned to the kitchen to find Alec and Isabelle quite done with talking. They were faced away from each other, tension smothering the air around them. He didn't know what they talked about, and Alec probably wouldn't tell him until he calmed down, but he could make a couple educated guesses.

He announced his presence loudly when it seemed neither were going to break the silence. He told Isabelle that they were going to leave now, and she just gave a petulant sniff as acknowledgement that she heard him.

He groaned internally. He was going to have to coax Alec into a brighter mood when they got back to his apartment. Alec, being as stubborn as he was, and with the argument they had had previously, may not cooperate as well as he usually did.

The older male put a hand on the younger's shoulder, using the other hand to latch onto the blind Shadowhunter's opposite arm and tug him up gently. Alec complied, but probably only to get out of the room his sister was in.

Magnus gave Isabelle a goodbye and walked Alec and himself out of the kitchen, and then the Institute. He repeated the return-home process he had done yesterday, Alec remained silent the ride over.

For him, it was a long ride due to the silence that the Shadowhunter held onto. He refused to be touched, even brushed up against. It must have been a lot longer of a ride for Alec though, considering he couldn't even see where they were.

When the cab came to a stop, Alec fumbled his way out, finding the handle to the door and walking out. Magnus saw him take a few uncertain steps, not knowing which direction he was facing. He saw the frustration cloud over his expression. Magnus sighed and paid the driver, slipping out of the car and standing behind Alec.

Alec could feel him there, instinct and feeling in general. Magnus was warmer than the average person. Magnus saw him move an arm back to feel for him. When his hand bumped into his waist and he jerked it back shyly, Magnus could have laughed. Under normal circumstances, he certainly would have, but they were fighting right now. Or at least Alec was, so he may not appreciate being laughed at.

Magnus took the hand that had retreated from contact and guided him to the steps, one at a time. He could tell from the way Alec was carrying himself that he was trying to picture the steps, the door, and then the house. Magnus watched his eyes dart around, he could practically see the gears turning in his head.

Unlocking the door with a snap of his fingers, Magnus let Alec's hand go and walked away, letting the boy find his own way into the house.

He wasn't being mean. At least, he didn't think so. He was giving him space, he was letting him try to get through on his own. He was giving him freedom. The warlock would gladly give Alec anything he wanted, just not another chance to fight while he was blind. He wanted the other male to know that, to know that he wasn't smothering him with rules and orders. If Alec was going to calm down right now, he'd have to see that Magnus was doing only what was in his best interest.

The Downworlder was quiet as he watched the Shadowhunter place each step carefully. He watched him stumble once, his hand shooting out for a wall to grab on to. Alec didn't know where he was, and even if he did, he wouldn't have asked for help. Magnus felt that he needed a chance to show himself what his limits were.

Even if the young male found what those limits were, it was a matter of him accepting them or believing he could push past them. Shadowhunters were raised to push past limits, to minimize all possible weaknesses. Whether or not Alec fell back on that would be up to him, now.

In a way, it was like watching a baby bird learn to fly. He stood back and watched Alec try to do things on his own, like he was just learning how to do everything for the first time. If he tried to baby him and walk him through everything, not only would Alec be pissed, but it wouldn't be giving him his freedom and space.

"Are you hungry?" Magnus asked once Alec had found his way to the couch safely. He watched his boyfriend patting around on the piece of furniture until he found the middle of it, assuring he wouldn't be falling off the edge if he sat down. Alec seemed surprised that he was being spoken to, he looked up to Magnus' voice, head cocked to the side.

"I guess," he answered, listening to the movements the warlock made in the kitchen.

"Are leftovers from takeout okay?" he asked, watching confusion flicker over Alec's face.

"Sure," he responded, sounding like he didn't really care.

Magnus set about heating up the leftovers, making the serving large enough that they could both pick off of. Alec needed help eating, he missed his mouth when he tried feeding himself. Magnus wouldn't have time to eat and feed him at the same time if they used separate plates, too. Thus came the solution he had thought of, which was using the same plate, and the same fork.

They were used to sharing spit anyways -through kissing, that is- so sharing silverware was no problem by either of them.

When the food was finished in heating up, Magnus brought the plate to the living room, sitting beside Alec. He asked Alec to open his mouth while he placed the food-filled spoon in his mouth.

Magnus got the next bite, then Alec, and so on. Half way through Alec refused to eat anymore, claiming he was full, so Magnus ate the rest. He snapped the plate and spoon into the sink afterwards, not wanting to get up and then come back to sit down.

"Are you mad at me?" Alec asked in a meek voice, surprising his boyfriend with the question.

Magnus put a hand on Alec's back, rubbing soothing circles. Alec leaned up against him and pressed his head into the space between Magus' neck and shoulder. Magnus ran his free hand through the soft black hair, massaging his scalp.

"No. I thought you were mad at me," he admitted, hearing and feeling the sigh escape Alec. " I thought you were ignoring me and didn't want me touching you earlier."

Alec shook his head from its spot on his shoulder. "I thought you were mad because you let go of me in the doorway. You usually hold my hand until he went to the living room, at least. Even before I was blind."

"Just giving you some space, dear," Magnus offered. He could explain that he had let go because he thought Alec was mad at him in the cab, but that would lead them in circles of why Alec thought he was mad, and then why he thought Alec was mad, and so on.

"Never mind," Alec mumbled. "Can we just talk? Without getting angry?" he asked timidly, his fingers going to play with the collar of Magnus' shirt.

"Of course." Maybe he would be told the reason why the siblings had been fighting.

Alec took a deep breath before starting. Magnus thought that something heavy must be on his mind.

"I don't… I don't know what I'm supposed to do," Alec started slowly, his eyes closing tightly. "I don't wan to live like this."

Magnus wiped away a tear that had escaped from when his eyes had closed.

"I want my old life back. It hasn't even been that long, and I need it back." He opened his eyes again, they were watery and unfocused. "Is that silly?"

"No, it's perfectly reasonable," Magnus assured, smoothing his hair down. He rested his own head against Alec's. "It's your life, I get it." It'd be like him losing his magic and having to live like a Mundie. Losing the life you grew up in was like losing part of yourself. Almost like dying if you were that attached to it.

"How sure are you that your magic can't fix it?" Alec asked.

Wishing he wasn't so sure, Magnus told him honestly, "Pretty sure."

"So what do I do now?" the Shadowhunter's voice cracked in the middle of the sentence, desperation creeping up. "Sit around like a Mundane, listen to the television for entertainment? Sit back and relax?"

"Most people would actually like that for a living," Magnus commented. He didn't understand the appeal the children of the Angel felt towards throwing themselves at danger.

"Not me," Alec stated, sighing.

"I know, and I like that about you," Magnus responded. "I guess now you just work at getting a hold of the life you have left. And while you're at it, appreciate that you're alive, how about?"

He felt Alec shrug against him, wondering if he was actually considering it.

"I know you don't like being looked after all the time. You aren't used to it, it wasn't how you were raised, whatever your reasoning is. But accepting help when you need it isn't a bad thing. It doesn't make you weak or anything."

"I know," the younger male groaned. "But asking for help makes me feel like I'm not capable of doing something, mentally and physically. It makes me feel stupid."

"Even if I know you aren't stupid?" Magnus asked, trying to reason with him.

"Yeah. Even if you know it. And being defenseless. It's a terrible feeling after having so much control over it in the past."

"But you aren't entirely defenseless when you've got me."

Alec seemed to think about it, like he had never considered it. Even though Magnus always repeated that he would watch out for him, make sure he didn't bump into him.

"I guess so," he accepted. "But I still don't know what I'm supposed to occupy my time with. Or my mind. My mind is always running, thinking in circles. Fighting used to take my mind off of my thoughts."

"So use your time to recover. Use it to get used to this kind of life. Spend time thinking about how to handle this. If you can't think of anything, think of me," Magnus told him like it was the easiest answer in the world.

"And you'll help me?"

"Only if you want it."

Alec gave a resigned sigh, like he was coming to accept the ideas that Magnus had given him. And maybe he had. Magnus felt him relax a little more against him and wondered if he had come to terms with some of it.

"Well, I want it. I'll try and learn to live with this, but will you do something for me?" he asked, to which Magnus quickly agreed.

"What is it?"

"I know your magic can't do anything, but will you look for anything that can?" Alec requested, determined not to completely give up on the idea that he could go back.

If it made Alec happy, then Magnus would promise. But if he never found anything, he would be giving him an empty promise. Magnus didn't want his hopes raised in case he waited forever with no results, but giving him nothing was like saying he had given up too.

"I can't guarantee anything exists, but I can try to look for something," he promised reluctantly. If it was enough to let Alec hope, but not enough to let him believe anything was set in stone, then it was okay to say yes to. At least, Magnus thought so.

"Where do we start then?"

_A/N: I can see at least one more chapter out of this. Two would be the maximum, unless I thought of anything else, but other than that, I just want to wrap this up._

_Any mistakes made in here are apologized for in advance as I'm sorry I didn't catch it._


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: So I'm finishing this here. Right now. Today. It's done. I just had to wrap this up. Sorry it sounds quick, and sorry there's mistakes. These characters belong to Casandra Clare.

It had been six months prior to the incident that had caused Alec's blindness. While it had involved much bumping into things, much coaxing into trying new things, and much attempted redemption on Jace's part, there had been good things that had come out of the entire issue.

Jace had learned to be a little more obedient in battle. He listened to Isabelle and others now instead of goofing off. Well, goofing off less, anyway. A lot less, to be specific. And these days, when he came home to the Institute and Alec was around spending time with his family, he would spar with the retired Shadowhunter.

Isabelle had to take some time to chill out about the whole, Alec fighting blind. She made Jace promise to take it easy on him every time they went off to spar, and he agreed quickly so they could make their escape. Alec had actually gotten pretty good at it, too. These days he barely needed Jace to make noise in order to detect him. His sixth sense and instinct had been sharpened without his eyes.

The young man who had had his sight removed in battle had come the farthest out of all of them, though. He had progressed from a stumbling, nervous young man coming to terms with his sightlessness to someone who was capable of running through the Institute or Magnus' house, or walking backwards. The bathroom thing had taken a little more practice, but he had gotten it down, no problem now. Food wise, as long as Magnus told him what it was, he could make it himself. With some supervision, though.

While Alec did miss fighting for the Clave at the side of his siblings, he did quite like the easy life living with his warlock boyfriend. He couldn't be more grateful to the man who had walked him through the hardest time of his life.

Magnus, the most perfect, patient, brilliant man in the world, had taken care of him like no one else would have been able to. Maybe it would have been Alec's stubbornness to cooperate, or it might have been someone else's lack of patience. Magnus had coaxed Alec out of his stubbornness, and had possessed the patience to hold his hand through the entire thing. He'd even been able to put up with the occasional fits about how he just couldn't do this, and kill him now, he wasn't going to do this.

He had become confident, and things had become easier. The more he had becoming willing to trust Magnus, and try new things, the stronger he had become with his greatest weakness.

Magnus had promised to keep on searching. For a way to fix his eyes, that is. Magic wasn't going to work, they knew that now. Not his magic, anyway. With enough research, maybe he could find someone else's magic could do it for him, and he'd keep looking until he found it. Magnus believed his boyfriend only deserved the best, and even though Magnus would much rather spend his non-business hours sitting on the couch with a young, dark haired male in his arms, listening to the television play some Mundane show, he knew that the other would rather be back to fighting. He only wanted what was best for the other.

He couldn't be more proud of the young man in the six months that he had used to become accustomed to blindness. Their relationship had grown stronger too, with all the trust that Alec had had to stand by with Magnus. Alec had also found newer, stronger sensations in some of the things they did, now that he didn't rely on sight to understand what was going on.

Today, the two were off to see the Institute half of his family, and Alec, deciding to walk, was in the lead for the both of them.

He held Magnus' manicured hand in his as he guided them down the side walk. Magnus enjoyed a nice, refreshing walk with his exuberant love, and kept up with his tug. The warlock reflected on how Alec had been before about going outside. It had taken a few weeks for him to want to go out in public, outside. The sounds of the rushing cars and bustling people had scared him while he couldn't see what was going on. It made him paranoid that something was going to hit him and he couldn't dodge. But now, the Shadowhunter enjoyed feeling the sun on his skin, the wind through his hair. As long as Magnus had him, he wasn't worried.

"Jace'll spar with me today, so are you and Isabelle going to go shop or something?" the young man asked, since Magnus divided his time at the Institute with Isabelle and him. Alec liked his boyfriend bonding with his sister, actually. Even if the two divas had been pretty close before, now they were like besties.

He heard the man hum in thought, scuffing his heels on the side walk.

"Yeah, I think that's exactly what we'll do," he replied, sounding excited at the idea of a shopping trip. They swapped fashion tips quite often, as well as criticized each other. Sometimes they even ended up loudly criticizing others in the store, which had only gotten them kicked out once.

"What are you going to want for lunch? Or, will you be back in time for dinner only?" he asked, envisioning the progress they had made down the street to the other home. Almost there, he thought.

Throwing his head back and laughing, Magnus just shook his head. Alec had come so far, he could feel the jerking throughout the other's body to understand the movements it made.

"No, we'll be back before dinner. You're cooking, I hope?" he checked quickly. No way was he eating Isabelle's food. He'd only eaten it a few times as a pity take when she had attempted to cook to cheer Alec up in his depression phases.

Nodding, Alec gave a small chuckle. Isabelle could help, but she just couldn't touch any of the food while it was cooking. The only thing is, sometimes he didn't know if he could trust the ingredients she gave him all the time. That was why Jace insisted on sitting in the kitchen too, no matter how boring it got, to make sure she didn't tell Alec one thing and ruin a good meal.

"What are you going to be making, do you know yet?"

Shaking his head, he turned the corner for where the Institute would be sitting.

"A surprise is what it'll be. You'll like it."

Magnus stepped ahead of Alec, letting the two into the building. He did the elevator buttons for them too, even though Alec was perfectly capable of doing these things himself. Magnus had been glad when he had gotten over his sensitive period. When Magnus offered to do nice things for him because he could, Alec would get touchy and tell him not to pity him or that he could do it himself.

When the elevator rose to their stop, they were greeted by Isabelle and Jace. Alec was enveloped in dual hugs, and he returned the embrace. Before, he had panicked, and the first time, he had shrieked from the surprise.

"Alec, man! You ready for some sword play?" Jace asked loudly, slapping the other on the back.

Alec nodded enthusiastically. "I am, and I'll win again."

Jace rolled his eyes, scoffing loudly, making exaggerated noises of disbelief.

"So you've won a few times," he said, shaking his head.

This time Alec scoffed. "Actually, I've beaten you seven times." And although seven times to x-amount of times they had had their matches, it was still pretty big for Alec. Just wait until he hit that ten pointer.

"Seven, one, big difference."

Isabelle informed him that there was a six number difference between them. That was more than five, therefore it was a big difference.

"Isabelle, darling," Magnus drawled lazily, like a content cat. "Shopping spree at the mall, what do you say?" he asked, his eyes glinting mischievously.

She pretended as if she was actually considering if she wanted to do this or not. She tapped her chin with a delicate, painted nail with a hum.

"I don't know, Bane. I'm awfully busy today," she trailed off teasingly.

"My treat," he said, flashing a million dollar smile.

Her glossed lips curled into a smile. "You have yourself one fabulous shopping date, Bane. But first, I have to get dressed for such an occasion." There was a dress up time for every occasion, she claimed. Shopping was no exception. She had to look fabulous if she wanted to buy fabulous clothes, after all. Magnus wasn't complaining. He had gotten dressed up too.

"Last one to the training room is a loser!" Alec exclaimed, shoving past Jace quickly, almost clipping his shoulder on the first turn.

"Hey! Be careful, Alec!" Isabelle shouted after him, smacking Jace as he tore past her. "Jace! Be careful with him!"

Giving a quick wave of acknowledgement over his shoulder before he turned the corner, Jace shouted after Alec, throwing taunts after him.

With the boys gone, the two left looked to each other.

"Go, darling. Go get prepared. I'll be waiting here for you," Magnus promised, crossing his arms. "Oh, and we have to be back before dinner. I'll take you out for lunch, but Alec's cooking dinner." Getting her out would promise an Isabelle-free meal.

Isabelle gave a little girly giggle and bolted. Magnus took gave a content sigh and leaned against the wall. While it could easily take her fifteen minutes to half an hour to get ready, Magnus knew that on days that he was treating, she'd be ten minutes tops.

Yeah. Things were going great now, these days. Magnus couldn't be happier right now, except for Alec being able to see. But for now, they were all pretty happy with what they were dealing with. He was still looking for ways to fix that, and maybe he'd find it one day, but for now, they'd be just fine.

A/N: Yeah, quick ending. Sorry if it wasn't satisfying. I'm just, really done with this fanfic. It's like, the first one I completed. Now I'll eventually work on updating the other fic I have going. The only thing is, I'm not so much into TMI. No, I still like it. I like the Malec a lot. But it's not my big thing anymore. I'm all about Hetalia now XD Sorry, mates. Hope you liked this, even if I did wing the entire thing. See you in the future sequel.


End file.
